


By My Side: Bonus Material

by minhoinator



Category: SHINee
Genre: Fluff, Hogwarts AU, M/M, like just straight up fluff
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-03
Updated: 2019-06-27
Packaged: 2019-07-24 20:38:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 38
Words: 24,141
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16182761
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/minhoinator/pseuds/minhoinator
Summary: These are just little snippets and scenes of the everyday happenings of Minho and Kibum atHogwarts! I'm posting these separate fromBy My Sidesince they aren't plot-oriented.





	1. Poisonous

**Author's Note:**

> Okay so originally this was for Inktober, but I really like writing these, so I'm gonna continue lol It won't be every day like it was for October, though

_\- October 1, 2005 -_

“What were we supposed to be looking for again?” 

Kibum’s brow furrowed as he scanned the roll of parchment Professor Sprout handed out as soon as class started. The goal was to find, identify, and bring back as many plants that were on this list to the greenhouse for discussion. In only ten minutes. Once they were released, Minho had run as fast as his legs could carry him down to the Forbidden Forest, leaving Kibum to catch up.

He was panting by the time he reached Minho, who was standing on his tiptoes as he peered inside the dark shadows of the forest. 

“Uh, puffapod…moonseed…four-leaf clover…mistletoe…ling – “ 

“Are we allowed to go in?”

Kibum looked up from the list. “Why…you see something?”

“Maybe.” Minho took a step closer to the forest, and Kibum glanced back to where Sprout was probably…definitely watching them all search. “I remember reading ahead about moonseed, and I think that – “ he pointed into the forest, “ – fits the description.” 

He followed Minho’s finger, seeing nothing at first. Then, there was a faint silvery glow – how deep into the forest, it was hard to tell – with the slightest defined crescent shape. Minho gulped, and Kibum scanned the area again. 

No one was watching…they’d have to be quick.

“Hand me the gloves.” Kibum looked down at Minho’s outstretched hand, sucking his teeth. “What? We can’t both go in together. We’ll get in trouble.” 

“Oh, no, that’d be the worst thing ever,” Kibum said in the flattest voice he could manage as he turned around and, without breaking eye contact with Minho, stepped back into the Forbidden Forest. 

The silence of the shadowed woods was deafening. Instantly, his skin started to crawl and he wanted nothing more than to get out of the woods. Minho stood frozen on the edge of the trees, watching him with wide eyes. “This was your idea, come on,” he whispered through clenched teeth.

Minho took a deep breath and stepped forward, hurrying to Kibum’s side. “Let’s make this quick.”

They both fumbled to get their wands out of their pockets, and Minho grabbed Kibum’s arm as soon as he lit the tip. They made their own path, cutting through the teaming underbrush to the alleged moonseed. 

It was beautiful in almost an entrancing way. The delicate petals of the single flower flattened and curved to form a crescent moon. The scent of salt hung in the air…sort of like at the beach. The petals themselves were almost translucent, and within the crescent, there seemed to be a sort of liquid. As the breeze twisted the underbrush and the moonseed, the liquid inside swished back and forth. 

Kibum stepped forward, reaching out to feel if the petals were as soft as they looked, and blinked when Minho smacked his hand away. “Wha – “

“Don’t…the petals might eat away your skin.” Minho held his hand out then, and Kibum passed him his set of gloves. “Get ready to cut the stem,” he whispered as he slipped them on. “Then we’ve gotta run.” 

Slowly, very slowly, Minho reached forward and grabbed the flower with both hands, holding it closed. When he nodded, Kibum directed his wand at the thick green stalk. “Diffindo!” A flash of green, and they were off and running, back to the safety of daylight.

Not only were they awarded full marks for class participation and rarest plant found that day, but they also got detention for embarking into the Forbidden Forest. 

With Filch. 

To clean all the baseboards in the Great Hall.

“Was it worth it?” Analecia asked them as they were all on their way downstairs.

“No,” Kibum said at the same time that Minho exclaimed, “Of course!”


	2. Tranquil

_\- October 2, 2005 -_

A long sigh was followed by the scrape of a turned page. Minho blinked slowly, the text in A History of Magic blurring until he blinked again. He glanced over at Kibum, who had started humming to the cadence of the spell they had learned in Transfiguration today.

What was it?

Kibum hummed it again, and Minho squinted as he tried to remember which one it was, but it was to no avail.

Oh well, it was almost time for bed anyways.

A smile disrupted his yawn when, out of the corner of his eye, he saw Kibum practicing the new wand movements. He stretched his legs out of their crossed position, his toes pressing against the opposite wall of their study closet. Soon, he relaxed and his legs rested across Kibum’s shins. Minho glanced over to see if he was bothering him, but Kibum didn’t seem to pay him any mind.

No, he was too focused on jotting down notes.

Minho rested his head on the wall, staring into the warm yellow glow of the myriad candles posted around the closet.

It was no real shock that this closet was his favorite place in the entire castle. Tranquil and secluded, as only he and Kibum knew about it. Inside, it always smelled faintly of old parchment and Grandma’s baking, even if she hadn’t baked them anything for a while. He felt at peace here, like he was free to be himself, without judgment.

Another long sigh, from him; another page turned, from Kibum.

Minho closed A History of Magic and hugged it to his chest, his eyes closing as he rested his chin on the top. Kibum was humming again, not to a spell this time, but to a song that Minho didn’t recognize. He felt himself start to drift off, and he shook his head to wake up a little. 

Kibum’s song ended abruptly. “Want to stop for the night?”

“I’m good whenever, but take your time.”

He could feel Kibum’s eyes on him, but he couldn’t be bothered to look up. “Five more minutes?”

“Mm.”

His humming resumed, and another page was turned.

Minho smiled.


	3. Roasted

_\- October 3, 2005 -_

“All right, everyone!” Professor Flitwick said as he tapped his wand on the top of the podium. “Get out your textbooks and turn to page 29.”

Kibum pushed up the sleeves of his robe as Minho took The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 3 out of his backpack and found the right page. “Is it hot in here to you?” he whispered.

Minho snorted. “Yeah, it’s Charms. Flitwick likes being warm.”

“I know that already.” His sweaty hand stuck to the parchment as tried to take notes when Flitwick started to talk about the Mending Charm. Huffing, he raised his hand off the desk, the parchment coming with it, and glowered at Minho as he shook it off.

Minho pursed his lips to keep from smiling, even as he dabbed beads of sweat from his forehead. “Like, I’ll admit, it’s a little toasty i – “

“A…little toasty? We’re being roasted alive!”

Flitwick cleared his throat, quieting both Kibum and Minho for the moment, and continued with his lesson. Midway through, Kibum slipped off his robe and let it fall across the back of the bench. Beside him, Minho’s shoulders shook with silent laughter, even though a few moments later, his own robe joined his. 

When the bell rang to dismiss them, it was a race to get out of the sweltering classroom first. Unfortunately, Minho took a little longer to get their things back into his backpack, so they were at the back of the pack. Kibum groaned, fanning himself by pulling back and forth on the front of his uniform shirt and sweater.

“You didn’t have to wait for me.”

“Don’t be ridiculous.”

When they were finally free of the classroom, Kibum let out a huge sigh as they followed the rest of the third years to the History of Magic classroom. Minho stopped walking after a second, and Kibum turned around to see why. 

“Why are you taking off your robe?” 

The corner of his mouth twitched upward involuntarily as he approached Kibum and draped his robe around him. “You looked cold, so – “ Laughing, he ducked away from Kibum’s attempt to punch his arm, running down the hall to catch up with the others.


	4. Spell

_\- October 4, 2005 -_

It was the first sunny afternoon for since the first week of the term, and Minho had insisted that he and Kibum spend some time outside before heading up to the seventh floor to study after dinner. They picked apples for themselves for a snack as they made their way out to the yard.

The sun was out and shining, but it was on the cool side of warm. Heavy gray clouds occasionally passed over it, the threat of rain lurking in the air.

Still, they stayed, Kibum laying beside Minho, who was sitting with his back against a rock. They talked about whatever came to mind, which, at the moment, was Kibum venting about the essay they were assigned in Defense Against the Dark Arts. Minho listened, humming in response, but his eyes never left the Whomping Willow.

It was such a strange tree.

There were so many in Korea, all unsurprisingly non-violent. They even had one in their backyard. Dad hung a swing for them and everything. 

“Random question,” Minho asked once Kibum sighed after he finished his thoughts about the essay.

“Hmm?”

Minho took another bite of his apple, wiping the juice off his lips as he chewed quickly. “Is this the only Whomping Willow in the world?”

Kibum squinted up at him, holding his hand over his eyes to block the muted sunlight. “I’m not sure. I think Grandma said they were more but I don’t know where.”

He nodded to the Forbidden Forest. “Think there could be some in there?” Kibum shrugged and Minho took another bite of his apple. “I wonder if they’re like -- “ he swallowed his bite “ -- the guardians of the forest.”

Smiling, Kibum lowered his hand and clasped them together over his stomach. “I don’t see why not.”

Minho tossed the apple core away when he was finished, licking the juice off his fingers before wiping them dry on his pants. It’d be time to head inside soon since dinner would be starting within the hour. He yawned, freezing mid-stretch when he felt the pitter-patter of raindrops on his skin. 

It didn’t take long for them to head inside, but by the time they reached the castle, they were both drenched. Minho slipped out of his robe quickly and helped Kibum out of his. The sound of the downpour outside almost drowned out Kibum’s chattering teeth, Minho’s own sniffling, and the rain dripping from their robes onto the floor.

Almost.

After a second or two of searching, Minho took his wand out of his robe pocket. “Accio hoodies!” It only took a moment before two of Minho’s Manchester hoodies made their way to where they stood in the corridor. Minho tossed their robes on the windowsill so he could catch them. “Which one do you want?” he asked, holding up his red and black Manchester hoodies. 

“Thanks, Min,” Kibum said as he reached for the red one.

“Yeah, no problem.”

Soon, they were both a little warmer. Kibum moved around Minho and grabbed the robes, and they both started walking down the hall. “Let's go see if the fireplaces are lit in the Great Hall, so we can dry these off.”


	5. Chicken

_\- October 5, 2005 -_

Broth bubbled in a cauldron over the fire, carrots and pearl onions and leaves of thyme rolling in the boil. Kibum stepped up on his tiptoes and peered inside, stirring the soup with a wooden spoon. He took the spoon out of the broth, blowing some of the steam away before tasting.

“Hmm, needs salt, I think.”

Kibum went back over to the counter to grab the bowl of salt and looked over at Minho, who sat on the end of the “Slytherin” table in the kitchen with his knees tucked up into his sweatshirt to try to conserve heat. “Bummie, I’m fine, really. I can just wait until morning.”

Minho was recovering from a cold -- no big deal, Pomfrey gave Pepper-Up Potion and kept him in the infirmary until the steam dissipated -- but come dinnertime, he hadn’t been hungry. And he wasn’t until they were almost done studying for the night. 

This was Kibum’s dad’s old chicken soup recipe, something he showed Kibum how to make one day when they were both home sick. It stuck with him, all these years later, even though he hadn’t made it since...

“I’m almost done, buddy, don’t worry.” He sprinkled a little more salt in, stirring while he did. “Wanna get bowls?”

Minho sniffed. “Sure.”

Soon there was a clatter of ceramic from across the kitchen, and he brought them over to the counter as Kibum slowly carried the cauldron of soup over to the counter. He dished some out for each of them, making sure there was a healthy amount of broth and chicken and vegetables in Minho’s before he handed it to him. 

Spoons? Where were the spoons in here? Kibum looked up when there was a metallic clink over by Minho, who was pulling two spoons out of his pocket. He set his bowl down next to Minho, picking up his spoon after Minho had taken his first bite.

“Is it okay?”

Minho closed his eyes before he took another bite. “It’s so good.” He let out a relieved sigh, pooling broth in his spoon. Minho sniffed again, rubbing his nose with the sleeve of his hoodie. He smiled sleepily when Kibum looked over at him. “Thanks.”


	6. Drooling

_\- October 6, 2005 -_

"...and, even though the spell has long been forgotten in the time that has passed, the captured witches used what is now referred to as the Flame-freezing Charm. It made their escape possible, as they were able to apparate away from the fire -- or, that’s how it is believed that they were able to escape, no one knows for sure -- but even then they were forced to live in hiding, away from the natural world that we as magic folk had grown so accustomed to...”

Minho yawned, propping his chin on his hand as he continued to scribble notes on his and Kibum’s parchment. He was starting to run out of room, though, as Kibum had fallen asleep with his face and hand taking up over half of the parchment. Kibum smacked his lips before he let out a quiet snore, and Minho rolled his eyes, smiling as he looked back up at the ever-dull Professor Binns.

“...which is why we must keep our history, identities, and heritage a secret from any and all Muggles, because, as you’ve seen from this class, history is doomed to repeat itself if we don’t learn from it.”

Kibum’s thumb twitched, Minho glancing down at the slight movement. Dipping his quill in the inkwell, he sketched a tiny star on the back of his hand. He kept checking to see if Kibum had woken up yet or not.

He hadn't. 

So, Minho drew another star, and then another, creating a tiny constellation on the back of Kibum’s hand. Binns cleared his throat, and Minho stopped drawing to go back to his note-taking. Except...he really needed the space on the parchment.

Minho set the quill aside and pushed Kibum’s head aside as gently as he could manage, cracking up as he did. Apparently, Kibum was drooling. Rhesa glanced back at him, and when he shook his head she went back to her reading. He took the sleeve of Kibum’s robe and wiped the puddle off of the parchment before sliding his hand away as well.

It didn’t take long for Kibum to wake up -- probably because of the cool wood of the desk beneath his face. He sat up slowly, his eyes bleary and somewhat confused as he looked around the classroom. After a second, he wiped the corner of his mouth and looked down at his hand.

“Was I...drooling?”

“A little bit, yeah.” Kibum’s entire face flushed and he avoided Minho’s gaze as he sat back in his seat. “It’s okay. Everyone does it.”

Kibum nodded, the tips of his ears still a little red. “Did I miss anything interesting?” he asked as he pulled Minho’s notes toward him on the bench.

He paused, holding out his hand to inspect the constellation doodle that Minho had drawn for just a second, and smiled as he started to read while Minho went back to listening to Binns voice as he droned on...and on...and on.


	7. Exhausted

_\- October 7, 2005 -_

"Ready?” Professor Sinistra asked, her voice annoyingly cheery, being that it was midnight. Or, almost midnight. A murmured _yes_ sounded from the gathered third years. “Let’s go then!” 

She started sprinting up the stairs, hiking up her dark blue velvet robes, and the students followed her. Beside Kibum, Minho dragged his feet, lagging behind until Kibum wrapped his arm around his waist. “Come on, buddy, let’s get this over with.”

“I’m really not in the mood for this tonight.” Minho stopped on a landing, watching the other students follow Sinistra and letting out a whiny groan. “I don’t know why I’m so exhausted.”

Kibum rolled his eyes with a smile. It had been a...long day for Minho, with the Charms and Potions test as well as a four-hour long Quidditch game. It was a close game, but Ricky Chase, Slytherin’s Seeker, ended up catching the Snitch first. After dinner, when Kibum saw Minho again, there was a bit of soup in Minho’s hair.

“What...is that?” he had asked, inspecting it for himself once they were out of the Great Hall.

“Yeah, I dozed off into my soup,” he said with a dorky smile.

Once they finally reached the top of the tower, Kibum found them a spot at the back of the group and they sat on the ground with the others as Professor Sinistra started to talk about the theory of charting stars. Again. Minho slumped against his side and Kibum glanced over to see him struggling to keep his eyes open.

“Go ahead and sleep, if you want,” Kibum whispered as he looked back at Sinistra. “I’ll let you know what happens.”

He half-expected Minho to refuse, but a moment later his head rested on Kibum’s shoulder.


	8. Star

_\- October 8, 2005 -_

"You got them?”

Minho shook the hand that was stuffed in his hoodie pocket, the many glow-in-the-dark stars inside clacking together. Kibum opened the door to their study closet and started to light the candles as Minho followed him inside. He sat down on the floor, dumping out the stars and arranging them by size until Kibum sat beside him.

“Okay, so what’d I miss last night.”

Kibum stretched out, reaching for his copy of _Celestial Readings and Histories_ , and grabbed his folded notes from within the pages. When he unfolded it, Minho saw a rough sketch of what the sky looked like, as well as a few notes. Kibum grabbed a handful of Minho’s assorted stars and started tacking them on the wall. “Can you go get your sticky parchments?”

“My post-it notes?”

Kibum’s face colored slightly. “Yeah.” Minho slipped behind him, rummaging through his stash of Muggle supplies to find the neon pink post-it notes. “Cassiopeia is up here,” he said, tapping the constellation he just finished applying to the wall. Minho scrawled out _Cassiopeia_ and stuck it on the wall.

“Andromeda?” Minho asked when Kibum finished another, and he nodded with a hum. 

It took them an hour at least, and even then Kibum said that it wasn’t complete. “It’s just all I can remember. Don’t forget your favorite one,” he said, pointing to the one that kind of looked like a tie. 

“Boötes! How could I forget!” He grinned as stuck the post-it note to it.

“I still don’t understand why you like that one so much.”

Minho just shrugged, scanning the star chart. “Huh, neither of our zodiacs are there.”

“Eh, it’s not a big deal. Hey, you should make your notes so we can get started on studying for tomorrow’s Defense test.”

“True.” Minho grabbed a spare roll of parchment and started to sketch out the chart for himself.


	9. Precious

_\- October 9, 2005 -_

It was always a moment highly anticipated, the appearance of the owls with the mail first thing in the morning. Kibum stirred his cereal, resting his chin on his fist and glancing up at the windows when he heard the first flutter of wings. 

It had been almost two weeks since either Grandma or Mom had sent him anything, and he honestly wasn’t expecting anything. He took a couple bites of his Pixie Puffs, trying to blink away his sleepiness away. His spoon clattered into his bowl, splashing milk over the rim, when Nutmeg landed on the table before him.

“Hey, Meg.” He reached out to stroke the feathers between his eyes. He dropped the package in his talons and flew away as Kibum said, “Thank you!”

“What’d you get?” Aaron asked, looking at him over the top of a letter from his mom. 

“Probably the usual.” Kibum opened the package and closed his eyes, smiling, when the scent of fresh pumpkin pasties wafted toward him. When he opened his eyes, he saw Callum reaching across the table to grab one. Out of instinct, Kibum smacked his hand away.

“Come on, they smell so good!”

“Yeah, I know. And they’re mine.”

Callum scoffed. “Analecia always shares her stuff.”

Kibum glanced over at her before he hugged his package to his chest. “Yeah, but...these are precious...to me...” his voice trailed off as his face grew warmer.

“Mine is always, like, candy bars.” Analecia shooed Callum away when he started to reach for them again. “Leave him alone. Eat your own breakfast.”

He set his box in his lap while he quickly finished his breakfast, leaving the Slytherin table before the bell rang. He ran into Minho as he was on his way back to his house and Minho was heading to class. “Oh, hey, you finally got a package!”

“Yeah!” Minho walked with him to the entrance of Slytherin, since he was on his way to Potions, anyway.

“I’ll see you in Charms, okay?” he said as he kept going down the darkened hallway.

“Hey, wait!” Minho walked backward, stopping beside Kibum again as he dug a pumpkin pastie out of the box, splitting it in half and handing the bigger side to him.

Even in the dark, Kibum could see Minho’s eyes light up. “Thanks, Bummie,” he said, as he took a bite and started to walk again. 

Smiling, Kibum unlocked the entrance to Slytherin, scarfing down his half as he headed inside.


	10. Flowing

_\- October 10, 2005 -_

Even though it was the afternoon, the air was still delightfully crisp. Squirrels chittered above Minho and Kibum as they walked down the deer’s path in the little patch of woods between the owlery and the Black Lake -- the students jokingly referred to it as Merlin’s Beard. The breeze was perfumed with the scent of earth and fallen leaves.

Minho jumped off the path, crunching leaves beneath his feet.

“Glacius,” Kibum said behind him, pointing his hand at the trees ahead of them as if he were holding his wand.

“Glacius!” Minho repeated, grimacing at his lisp. They were practicing the new spell they learned in Defense Against the Dark Arts today. O’Neely had impressed them all during class when he frosted over the dragon’s skeleton. 

A faint gurgling distracted Minho as Kibum repeated the spell again, and he weaved through the trees to find a bubbling creek cutting through the underbrush. It was flowing fairly steadily, probably because of all the rain they had been getting lately. Minho whipped his wand out of his pocket, pointing it at the stream.

“Gla -- “

“There you are!” He jumped at the sound of Kibum’s voice, turning to watch him trudge through the underbrush to get to him. “What are you doing?”

“Practicing! What’s a better thing to try freezing than water?”

“Makes sense.” Kibum pulled out his wand. “Where’s your’s?”

Minho held up his hand and glanced over to find that his wand was no longer there. Panic clenched his heart as he swung back toward the creek. He must have dropped it when Kibum surprised him...

As he ran downstream, he kept his eyes trained on the flowing water, earnestly searching for any sign of his wand. Kibum was on his heels, he could hear his labored breathing behind him. They rand almost to the Black Lake before Minho spotted it, the red of the cedar standing out amidst the duller brown of the twigs it got caught in. 

Thoughtlessly, Minho stepped into the creek after it, without taking off his shoes or robe, catching it just as the current was starting to loosen it again. Kibum offered his hand to help him out of the water, and Minho took it. 

“You think it’ll be okay?” Kibum whispered as Minho started to dry it off with the sleeve of his robe.

“Hopefully.” His teeth were chattering by the time he thought it was dry enough, and he pointed his wand away from them and the creek. “Win-wingard-ium le-leviosa,” he said, shivering enough to stutter.

Nothing happened.

He clenched his jaw and tightened his grip on his wand before he did the proper wand movements again. “Wingardium leviosa!”

A slightly electric buzz coursed through his fingers, not enough to sting, as the fallen leaves around them slowly rose to eye level, dropping with a rustle as Minho lowered his wand. Kibum sighed, clutching his heart, and Minho grinned. “We’re good!”


	11. Cruel

_\- October 11, 2005 -_

A chill blew through Kibum as one of the Ravenclaw Beaters zoomed past the stands, carrying the autumn breeze on their back. Shivering, he shoved his hands into Minho’s sweatshirt pockets and leaned forward to check his position in the air.

Yep, still hadn’t moved, and neither had Ravenclaw’s Seeker.

Even at this distance, Kibum could see the slump in Minho’s shoulders as the watched the game play out before him. He pretended not to care about the game now, but Kibum knew better than to believe that. In practice, Minho’s ability to locate and catch the painted walnuts was amazing. He was...so good at it, but every time Kibum tried to tell him so, he brushed it off, smiling shyly and changing the subject. His confidence had been dashed too much for him to believe it himself.

Across the pitch, Minho flew forward, circling around high above the play. Kibum took his hands out of the sweatshirt pocket and cupped them around his mouth. “You’ve got this, Choi!”

Beside him, Aaron scoffed. “It’s not like he can hear you.”

“So?” Kibum blew some warmth into his fingers before he stuffed his hands back in the pocket. “I’ll still cheer whether he can or not.”

Callum rolled his eyes. “Yeah, because it really helps.” He looked over at Kibum, freezing in place when he saw the look in his eyes. “I didn’t mean it like th -- “ he shut up when Kibum clenched his jaw. 

“There’s no need to be cruel. Also, you don’t have to come to games with me if you don’t want to.”

“I -- we do!”

Kibum looked back at the game, just in time to see Ravenclaw celebrating their win. He sighed, watching Minho’s descent. Once he was safely on the ground, Kibum stood, stepping down the stands on his way downstairs, and left Callum and Aaron behind. 

He stepped out of the wind and into the Hufflepuff tunnel as the team was filing inside the locker room. Minho spotted him just as he was about to head inside and he hung his head before closing the door behind him. Kibum still made his way over to the locker room, leaning against the wall as he waited for them to leave. It didn’t take long for them to change back into their school clothes, and Minho was the first one out the door.

He offered Kibum a tired smile, any light behind his eyes gone. “Hey.”

Kibum had been about to answer but held his tongue as the other players passed by, all of them patting Minho’s back. “You okay?” Kibum asked once the last of them left the hall. Minho simply shrugged. “Wanna talk about it?” Gulping, he shook his head. “Okay.” 

When Minho started for the exit, Kibum threw his arm over his shoulder, holding him close as they started to walk. “You know...”

“Hmm?”

“Once you win your first game, you’re gonna need to be prepared.”

Minho frowned, his bottom lip jutting out in a sort-of pout. “For what?”

“I don’t know yet! But it’ll be good. I’ll think of something.”

“You probably won’t have to.” Kibum pinched his shoulder. “Ow, hey!” Minho did his best impression of a glare as they stepped onto the lawn, and Kibum dropped his arm.

“Look, hey, look at me.” Sighing, Minho met Kibum’s eyes. “I know you don’t believe in yourself right now, and, like, I get that, but that doesn’t mean I don’t, okay?” He poked Minho’s stomach, who pushed Kibum’s finger away. 

“Okay.”

“Now...let’s go eat the rest of the shit Grandma sent me.”

“All of it?” Minho asked, a little glimmer returning to his eyes.

Kibum grinned. “Why not? Hey!” Huffing, he ran after Minho, who was dashing across the lawn back to the castle.


	12. Whale

_\- October 12, 2005 -_

“Where are you going?”

Minho dropped the sandwich he was holding onto a cloth napkin as he looked over at Gilbert. He reached over, grabbing another one. “Back to the...the room.”

“How come?”

“Uh...I’m gonna study for the Defense quiz.”

“Are we even allowed to do that?”

“Don’t know.” He grabbed two apples and a handful of cookies before he tied the napkin up. “Don’t really care, to be honest.”

"Such a badass rebel,” Seb said, smirking when Minho and their dorm mates started to chuckle. “So inspiring!”

They started to whoop and holler when Minho stood, and his face flushed when other students started to turn and look at them. “Shut up, oh my god,” he said, trying to suppress his laughter. Seb grinned cheekily at him as he started to walk toward the door. He ran into Kibum on the stairwell, and he held up the napkin. “Got it!”

“What took you so long?”

“My dorm mates are idiots.”

Kibum snorted. “Let’s go.” He followed him down the stairs and the hall toward Slytherin, both peering down the hall and into the shadows. “I think we’re good. Argenti anguis.” 

Faint green light seeped into the hallway, and Minho followed Kibum inside the house. “Where is it?”

“Not in the common room,” Kibum said, chuckling. He led Minho to the stairs that led to the dorms, then past them down the thin hallway. As they walked, the air grew chilly and damp. Minho shivered when Kibum muttered, “Almost there...”

There was a turn and then a dip in the hall before it opened up to reveal an unexpectedly huge room. It almost reminded Minho of a movie theater, except instead of seats and carpet there was slate and the occasional boulders. A slightly convex wall of water ran in from the floor to the ceiling, The room itself was dark, save for the light filtering through the water and the torches posted about the room.

It was oddly serene.

When Kibum had told him about the Lacuspectio, he hadn’t been expecting that. His chest tightened as he walked inside, staring unblinkingly at the water. He froze, his eyes widening when a mermaid made eye contact with him as a cluster of them swam past the opening. “Did -- “ he looked back at Kibum, who was watching him and grinning. “Did you see them?”

“Cool, right?”

Minho plopped down on one of the boulders, looking back up at the water. “So, is there glass there?”

“Actually, no. the water is just held up by some sort of spell.” Minho scoffed, as he was used to Kibum’s sarcastic sense of humor. “No, seriously.” Kibum walked over to the lowest part of the wall, rolling up the sleeve of his robe, and stuck his hand into the water, waving at Minho. “You don’t want to have any part of you in there too long though, because the Grindylow are vicious.”

“Oh...my god...”

Kibum laughed as he made his way back over to Minho, shaking the water off his hand. “Scoot over.” He did, and Kibum sat next to him on the boulder. He grabbed the napkin off of Minho’s lap and untied the knot, digging through the contents to get to one of the sandwiches.

Minho took the other, mindlessly eating it as he watched fish swim past. “Is there, like...a whale in the lake?”

“That’d be awesome, but no. There is a squid though.”

“Well, that’s still cool.” 

He set his half-eaten sandwich on Kibum’s knee before he leapt off the boulder and started running to the wall. He held his hand over the surface, staring at the slight shimmer of the spell keeping the Black Lake at bay. Several droplets of water fell on his hand, sending a shiver down his spine.

“You need to finish eating, Choi!” 

Sighing, Minho tore himself away from the water and trudged back to Kibum. “This won’t be the only time you bring me here, will it?”

“Of course not.” 

Minho relaxed, looking back up at the water. He didn’t look away once until Kibum ushered him out of the room to get ready to go to their next class.


	13. Guarded

_\- October 13, 2005 -_

It was a rare occasion, to be let out of History of Magic early. It didn’t happen often. In fact, in the three years that Kibum had been at school, this was only the third time, and it was for the same reason every time.

Professor Binns had been in the midst of drolly reading someone’s -- out of sheer boredom, Kibum had forgotten who -- essay on the witch hunts in America when he just...stopped talking, sat back in his chair, and started to snore. Those who were still awake stayed quiet for a moment, glancing around at each other. Kibum pinched Minho’s elbow until he stirred.

“Hm...what?”

“It happened again.”

Minho sniffed, blinking blearily as he looked over at where Professor Binns slept...or whatever it was ghosts did when it looked like they were sleeping. He stared for a minute as he gradually became more alert.

“Hey,” Aaron slapped his hand on their desk, startling Minho. “We’re gonna go finish our reading in the library, if you wanna join us?”

Analecia walked up behind them, her books in hand, and raised her eyebrows expectedly at Kibum. “You up for that, buddy?” he said, glancing over at a still very sleepy Minho.

“Yeah...” 

“We’ll meet you down there.” Kibum started to help Minho pack his backpack full of their things as they walked away with most of the other students. “You good?” he asked, once they were standing and Minho started to sway a little. He nodded, and trudged out the door. Kibum kept his hand on Minho’s backpack, ready to guide him away from doorways or to catch him if he started to fall down the stairs.

Minho was not usually that clumsy, but after a History of Magic nap? For some reason, those were always the worst to wake up from.

They made slow progress to the library, and once they were inside, it took a while to find them. Eventually, they found Aaron, Callum, and Analecia in the Reference section, sitting at one of the tables. Kibum and Minho sat opposite them, and Minho set his backpack between them as he dug out their books.

“Hey, Minho,” Aaron said, leaning toward him on the table. Minho’s eyes flicked toward him, his expression slightly nervous. “Did you hear about England’s win yesterday?”

He gasped. “Yes! My brother wrote to me about it!”

Oh, it was just football.

Kibum rolled his eyes with a smile as Minho’s remaining nap fog was completely eradicated. He leaned across the table, too, and both started talking excitedly about the details of a game that neither of them watched. Kibum finished getting their books out, sliding Minho’s to him before opening his own. 

It was hard to concentrate, with both of them chattering on like they were. Somehow the conversation morphed from football to Quidditch, and now Callum joined them. Kibum rested his cheek on his hand, glancing over at the three of them before his gaze settled on Minho.

It was always...sorta cute how happy he got whenever he talked about sports. Kibum didn’t understand it at all, but he was willing to indulge Minho whenever he talked to him about it. His excitement was palpable, and Kibum couldn’t help but smile himself. 

Analecia coughed and Kibum blinked as he looked over at her, surprised to find her giving him a knowing look -- quite similar to the ones Jonghyun would give him during Minho’s visit this last summer. He glanced between her and Minho before he shook his head at her. He was his best friend, like, so what that Minho brought out his soft side? It wasn’t that big of a deal, right?

Whatever...maybe he’d just have to be a little more guarded with his expressions when he and Minho were around other people.

He looked down at his book again, trying to find where they had left off in class.


	14. Clock

_\- October 14, 2005 -_

The bell from the clock tower rang out, announcing the end of classes for the day. Professor Sprout stopped talking until the chiming stopped, taking her peat-caked gloves off while she waited. “Go ahead and pack your things. We’ll pick up with Puffapods on Monday.”

Minho grabbed his backpack from beneath the table as Kibum stacked their books together, holding it open for him to fit them inside. “Wanna do anything before dinner?”

“I guess we could drop our books off,” Kibum said, zipping up Minho’s backpack before standing. 

“Did you send your letter to Jonghyun yet?”

“Oh shit! I forgot!” He felt around in his robe pockets, pulling out a rolled up parchment tied in a blue ribbon. He offered Minho a sheepish smile. “I can go do that and I’ll meet you in the Great Hall?”

“I can come with. I don’t mind.”

“Really?” Minho smiled and nodded. “Okay.” He followed Kibum out the door, stopping in the doorway to say goodbye to Sprout. He had to jog to catch up to him, and when he did, the 5 o’clock bell rang. “Did I tell you,” Kibum said once the ringing died in the air, “about what we learned yesterday in Muggle Studies?”

Minho’s eyebrows shot up. “I don’t think you did.” Their footsteps resounded in on the bridge, the petrichor from the afternoon rain heavy in the hallway. “Still talking about...turning...time?”

Kibum smiled as he stepped around a puddle. “Time-Turners. And yes.” A gust of wind whipped around them, starting Minho’s teeth chattering. “This was back when they were first getting tested, but apparently the reason why there’s a five-hour-back limit is that back in the early 1900′s, some wizards were spotted by Muggles and they were suspected to be time-travelers.”

“Well, I mean...”

“Right,” Kibum said with a laugh. “But that’s why Time-Turners were mandated by the Ministry to make sure that wizards everywhere maintained the statute of secrecy.”

“Makes sense.” They climbed up the steps to the owlery, picking up their pace when rain started to fall again. Once they were safely inside the owlery, Minho shook the rain out of his hair as Kibum called for Nutmeg and got him situated with his letter to Jonghyun.

“Okay, so,” Minho started to say once they were safely under the roof of the bridge again on their way back inside the castle. “If you could use a Time-Turner once, what would you do with it?”

He smirked. “Only going back five hours? It wasn’t a bad day, so...”

“No, no, like, however far back you wanted.”

Minho could see the wheels turning in Kibum’s head, his half-smile turning into a sort-of frown. Was he thinking about his dad? If he was, that wasn’t necessarily a bad thing...but Minho just hated to see him upset. Kibum glanced over at him, his frown disappearing as he shook his head. “Can’t think of anything. What about you?”

“I’d go back to this morning and get another hour of sleep.”

Kibum snorted. “I don’t think they work like that.”

“So? That’s what I’d do! I’d figure out a way to make it work.” 

“I believe in you,” Kibum said, the dry tone in his voice breaking when Minho pulled his hood off of his head. “Hey!” He started to chase Minho, but it was short-lived when Minho slipped on account of his rain-slick shoes. Minho cushioned his fall with his hands before he sunk to the ground, their laughter pealing through the corridor. Eventually, Kibum made his over to him, still laughing, and helped him up off the floor. “You okay?”

“Yeah, I’m good.”


	15. Weak

_\- October 15, 2005 -_

A droplet of wax from the hovering candles splattered on the Slytherin table. Kibum moved his plate away from it, cutting the last brussel sprout on his plate in half before he ate it. He tossed the other half around his plate with his fork, dragging it through the leftover gravy from his potatoes. 

The weekends were fairly lazy at Hogwarts, since they didn’t have classes. Because it was Saturday, Minho had Quidditch practice -- which seemed to be running late, given that Minho wasn’t in the Great Hall -- in the afternoon at the same time that he had choir practice. 

It was a new experience for him, singing with the other students. When he told Minho and Jonghyun about his possible interest in joining the frog choir, they were both, unsurprisingly, very supportive. He enjoyed it, so far, even though learning songs in Latin was harder than he had been expecting.

The doors to the Great Hall opened, and in came a small band of people -- Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws, Kibum thought. He spotted Minho among them, smiling when he waved at him on his way to the Hufflepuff table. Kibum’s smile fell, however, when he noticed a bright, white bandage wrapped around Minho’s hand. 

His fork clattered on his plate, startling Callum and Analecia, and he was on his feet, hurrying -- but not running -- to the other side of the Great Hall. He reached Minho as he was about to sit down. 

“Hey, Bummie!” He said, smiling up at him. Kibum blinked, pointing at his bandaged hand. Minho scooted over, opening up a little more space between himself and Marvin, and Kibum sat beside him. “It’s really not a big deal. My hand got smashed in the Quidditch kit. Broke two of the bones, apparently. I was straightening the Snitch in its case and Zach dropped the lid before I could get my hand out.”

Kibum gingerly took his bandaged hand, inspecting the purpling bruise peeking out from beneath the white cloth. “Are you okay?”

Minho stretched his fingers, audibly wincing. “Pomfrey said I should be good by Monday. It’ll just be a little weak for a while.”

“Ahh.” He took his hand back as he started to dish himself up dinner with his good hand. “Can’t she use a potion or something to heal it quicker?”

“She used a spell,” Minho said around his mouthful of potatoes. “I can’t remember which one. It just takes a couple of days, that’s all.” 

“Are you sure you’re okay?”

“Yep!” Kibum frowned and Minho laughed. “Don’t worry, it doesn’t hurt that bad, really. I’m fine.” He reached for his empty goblet. “Hey, can you get me some pum -- “ Kibum took it from him, filling it with pumpkin juice before he passed it back. “Thanks.” He took a long drink before he set the goblet down. “So, how was your practice?”

“Fine. Good, actually.” Minho nodded, taking another bite of his potatoes. “Promise you’ll be more careful?”

Minho stopped eating for a second, meeting Kibum’s gaze. “Promise.”


	16. Angular

_\- October 16, 2005 -_

A mist rolled out from the shadows in the Forbidden Forest and onto the shore of the Black Lake. The sun peaked out from the clouds, setting the surface of the lake aglitter. Kibum took a deep breath of the chilled fresh air, letting it out with a smile.

Way back in first year, he and Minho had agreed that they wouldn’t study -- unless it was for finals -- on Sundays, which meant they could do whatever they wanted. All day.

At the moment, Minho was searching the shoreline for the perfect skipping stone. He was about ten paces away from where Kibum was sitting, currently crouching by the water and inspecting each rock he pulled out. Kibum pulled the sleeves of his sweater over his hands and turned on his polaroid, checking the film before he snapped a quick picture of Minho. 

He caught the picture, setting it on his lap as it started to develop, and turned the polaroid at an angle as he took another. Minho was standing now, holding the few “perfect” stones he found in his bandaged hand. He started to toss them, getting a couple of skips out of each of them. 

On his last toss, he accidentally stepped into the water, and Kibum captured exactly when he jumped out of the water and looked his way, laughing. He dropped that picture onto his lap with the others. Kibum grinned, lowering his camera and stuffing the pictures into his pocket as Minho made his way back to him.

“Find one?”

Minho shrugged, rubbing his red-tipped nose and sniffing. “I got four skips, didn’t you see?” 

Nodding, Kibum glanced down at his bandaged hand Minho squinted in a sort-of wince. “Ready to go inside?”

“Yeah. I need to change out of these shoes and socks.” He shook his dripping shoe, laughing when Kibum shied away from the flying droplets.

“I’ll let you borrow the wool socks Grandma made me. They’re really warm.” 

“Okay!” Minho offered him his good hand, helping Kibum get up, and they started back toward the castle.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'll admit, this one is a bit of a stretch to fit the prompt lol but it's okay


	17. Swollen

_\- October 17, 2005 -_

Raindrops fell from the night sky, stopping just above the flames of the hovering candles. The scraping of forks and knives and excited chatter surrounded Minho as he worked on finishing his dinner. He reached for the last dinner roll on the plate before him and his dormmates, and as he bit into it, the plate refilled itself.

“All I’m saying is, if you’re gonna be a professor, then you shouldn’t -- “

“Hey,” Minho said as he swallowed his mouthful. The other five looked at him curiously. “Do you think these plates are really bottomless?” 

“What do you mean?” 

He glanced up at Travis before he took another roll. “Like, they refill themselves. Do you think there’d be a point where they...don’t?”

“Let’s find out!” Seb grabbed the plate, dumping it out on the table. Marvin caught one that almost bounced off and fell onto the floor while Gilbert cleared a space for Seb to set the plate back down. Within seconds, the plate refilled again, steam curling off of them. 

Eli grabbed one of the fresh ones with a grin. “Do it again!” So he did, again, and again, and the plate refilled every time. Rolls were piled almost at their eye level now. Seb was about to do it again until Travis glanced down the table and pulled his arm back. 

All six of them turned to see Sydney Blanchard, their Prefect and Head Girl, snapping her fingers to get their attention. They all shrunk back as she glared at them. “Stop.” Gilbert nervously cracked up, the others starting to giggle as well. “You all better fucking behave.” Minho pursed his lips, doing his best to sober up, and she turned back to her friend, rolling her eyes, and continued to eat her dinner.

Minho stared at the mess of rolls around them. A couple rolled off onto the bench and floor when Gilbert moved his arm. “Well, now what do we do?”

Travis grabbed two, stuffing them into his pockets. “At least we didn’t try this with the mashed potatoes.” They all started forcing as many dinner rolls as they could into their robe pockets and passing them down the table until there were none left. “It sucks that we still don’t know,” he said as they started to get up from the table to leave the Great Hall.

“There’s always tomorrow, my friend,” Seb said, clapping his hand on Travis’ back. Minho followed them out, glancing over at Slytherin to see Kibum standing. He hung back at the doorway, watching the others head downstairs as he waited for Kibum to join him.

“Hey!”

“Hi.” Kibum gave him an incredulous look, pointing at his swollen pockets. “What the hell?”

“Oh,” Minho snorted, pulling out one of the rolls and passing it to Kibum as they started heading upstairs. “We were conducting an experiment.”

“Well, that explains the commotion.” He squished the roll, tearing off a chunk and smiling at Minho. “At least we’ll have snacks for studying for a while.”


	18. Bottle

_\- October 18, 2005 -_

Sunlight filtered through the long windows of the infirmary, gilding the dust as it settled in the bustle. Every bed was full, as there had been an outbreak of the flu, and Madam Pomfrey and the nurses under her were flitting from bed to bed, checking on the sick. 

Minho crossed the threshold of the infirmary with Kibum, tentatively moving along the wall to stand in front of the medicine cupboard. “Do you think we have enough time to wait?”

“Hopefully.” They had left lunch a little early so that Pomfrey could check to see if he bandages could come off, and they did have a free period before there next class. So...probably...but there were a lot of sick students. “Wait, is the Crowell?”

Minho stopped fussing with his bandage to look where Kibum was pointing. Sure enough, Professor Crowell was there, looking like she was either about to throw up or just finished doing so. He grimaced, looking back down at his hand and pulling away the bandage a bit to inspect the bruise. It was mostly brown now with yellowing spots, which meant it was healing, right?

“Do you think we should try to get someone’s attention?”

He shrugged and shoved his hands in his pockets so he would stop poking his bruise. “I don’t want to bother her. If I don’t get it off today, then I don’t.”

“Okay.” Kibum glanced around, eventually turning to look at all the bottles of potions in the cupboard. “What do you think these all do?”

It was hard to tell, as most of them were unlabeled. Well, the names of the potions weren’t written on the bottles, some of them just had pictures drawn on them, as if they were supposed to know which potion was which from a few symbols. 

“Why are you asking me? You’re the potions expert.” 

Kibum tried to hide his smile as he shoved Minho away from him. “Am not.” He looked back at the cupboard as Minho trotted back to his side. “What about this one, with the eye -- “

“Mr. Choi?” Both he and Kibum turned at the sound of Pomfrey’s voice. “What is it you need?” 

“Uh, I was just coming to get my hand checked, but if you’re too busy...”

“Nonsense.” 

She walked past them, shoving her sleeves up over her elbows, and washed her hands in the basin. After she dried them she rubbed a potion, probably some sort of sanitizer, on her hands and made her way back to them. Minho held out his bandaged hand for her, which she readily took and unraveled the bandage for herself.

“Does it hurt when I do this?” she asked, pressing lightly on the bones of his hand. Minho shook his head. “Clench your fist for me. Any pain?” He shook his head again. “It feels as though the fractures have fully healed, but if you feel any discomfort or pain come back and show me, all right?”

“Yes, ma’am.” Kibum elbowed him in the side, raising his eyebrows when Minho glanced over at him. “Oh, right! Am I good to play Quidditch? I’ve got a game next week.”

Pomfrey sighed as she smiled. “Yes, you should be just fine. Is there anything else you need?” Both of them shook their heads. “Good. Get out of here before you get catch the flu yourselves.”

“Yes, ma’am!” They said before they darted out of the infirmary.


	19. Scorched

_\- October 19, 2005 -_

As the nights grew longer, an icy chill seeped into the castle walls and lingered during the day. Charms was everyone’s favorite class now, with how warm Flitwick liked to keep his classroom. The higher up, in the castle, the colder it got, so their study closet on the seventh floor was practically freezing at all times.

To combat this, Kibum and Minho smuggled more blankets and sweaters upstairs, as well as putting lit candles around them as they studied, to leech even a little bit of the warmth from the tiny flames.

Minho’s socked feet repeatedly tapped the wall beside Kibum, as he was sprawled out on the floor, wrapped up in two of the three blankets they had. Kibum shivered as he tried to focus on the etymology of healing spell they learned in Charms today. He almost had it, but his concentration was broken when Minho’s foot rested on his arm for a second and lifted when Minho murmured, “Sorry.”

He stared unamused at the back of Minho’s head when he chuckled at something that was written in the Defense textbook. Slowly, he moved away and reached into his last care package from Grandma, grabbing one of his spare quills. He took the feathered end and, checking to see that Minho wasn’t paying attention, started tickling the arch of his foot. 

Minho’s toes curled and he moved his foot away for a second, and when it fell back into place, Kibum started tickling it again. He tucked his quill away under his blanket and scrambled to look like he was studying when Minho turned around to scratch his foot. As he laid back down, he pulled out their notes from Defense to look over. 

When he was sure that Minho was back to studying, Kibum started to pull out the quill again, only for Minho to hurridly sit up and start smashing edge of the parchment. Kibum watched him, his eyes wide and the quill still posed to tickle Minho’s no-longer-present feet, his brow furrowing when Minho looked back at him.

“It was in the candle,” he said, holding up the now scorched edge of the parchment.

“Did we lose anything important?”

“Uh...” Minho looked back at the notes, scanning them. “Just your bearded chicken doodle.”

Kibum scoffed. “Bearded...chicken?”

Minho pursed his lips to hold back his growing smile. “What was it supposed to be?”

“A dragon.” Minho’s high-pitched laughter filled the small study closet and Kibum rolled his eyes as he started laughing himself. “Okay, can we get back to studying now, please?”

Minho nodded and grabbed his textbook before he scooted back to sit beside Kibum.


	20. Breakable

_\- October 20, 2005 -_

High, high above Professor Flitwick’s podium, a piece of chalk was scratching notes on the blackboard for whatever topic the lesson would be about today. Flitwick was nowhere to be seen, as usual. He was probably still in his office putting together some sort of visual demonstration of the new spell they would be learning today. 

Minho rubbed his eyes, squinting as he tried to decipher Flitwick’s cursive, and followed Kibum to their seats. “Breakable?”

“What?” Kibum, who had been getting their books out of Minho’s backpack, looked up at the blackboard when Minho nodded to it. “ _Un_ breakable...oh.” He frowned at the blackboard before he went back to getting their things out of the backpack. “I wonder if he’s gonna talk about the Unbreakable Vow.”

“What’s that?”

“Well, I’m not really sure. I heard Mom talk about it, like, once. I think one of her friends had done one.” 

“Huh...”

Kibum shrugged and swirled the ink in its bottle before he set it on the desk between them. “Yeah, I don’t know. It seemed pretty serious, so I’m surprised we’re learning about it so early.”

“More of a seventh year thing?”

“Probably.”

Kibum dipped his quill in the ink, scraping the excess off on the lid, and he started to doodle in the upper right-hand corner. It didn’t look like much at first -- just a few squiggles and some circles -- but soon Minho was able to sort of see what Kibum might have been trying to draw.

“Are those...jellyfish?”

Sighing, Kibum dropped the quill on the parchment, ink splotching across the painting. “No, they’re the Grindylows I saw this morning in the Lacuspectio.”

“Ohhh...” Minho tilted his head to the side. “Hey, not bad!”

Kibum started to answer, but go cut off when Flitwick trotted inside, carrying a steaming, china teapot. Instead, he tried not to look too pleased with himself. Any hint of a smile fell when Flitwick dropped the teapot on the ground. Scattered gasps sounded around the classroom, followed by confused _what_ ’s when the teapot didn’t shatter but rather bounced across the ground to the base of Flitwick’s podium.

“Today we’re learning about the Unbreakable Charm!” Flitwick said, his voice as cheery as always. Minho and Kibum shared a glance before Kibum took up the quill again and Minho started flipping through _The Standard Book of Spells_ to find the right page.


	21. Drain

_\- October 21, 2005 -_

The cloud of smoke and incense in the Divination classroom was almost suffocating. The smoke smelled like Christmas trees and the jasmine flowers Grandma kept in her greenhouse. Everyone kept sniffing and coughing, and, while it could rightly have been the rampant flu spreading through Hogwarts, Kibum thought the incense to be the most likely culprit.

“My children, please,” Professor Trelawney said, waving her arms wide from her place at the front of the classroom. She closed her eyes once everyone looked toward her. “Drain your minds of all thought, take your partner’s dominant hand, and begin your reading of their palm. When you are finished, begin to write your findings on a roll of parchment to turn in to me at the end of the period.” 

Both he and Minho sighed as they turned to each other. “You wanna go first?”

Kibum’s eyebrows raised. “Reading? Or?”

“Reading.”

“Sure.” He grabbed _Unfogging the Future_ , opening it on his lap and flipping through the pages. “Which page number did she say it was on?”

“Uh...in the 40′s, I think.”

Kibum nodded, holding out his hand for Minho’s when he found the right page. “So, your -- “ he checked the book then lightly traced the middle of the three deepest lines in Minho’s palm. “Your head line...splits, which means you’re empathetic and sensitive to other people.”

Minho’s hand twitched in his. “Do you think that’s true?”

“Yeah, I do. Your heart line,” he followed the top line to where it ended in the center of Minho’s palm. “It’s short and sort of straight, which means you show your affection through actions, not words. Huh.” Also true. Time and again, Minho was there for him when he needed him, never really with advice, but rather with a listening ear and open arms.

Kibum cleared his throat, pointing to the line that curved around Minho’s thumb and went to the base of his palm. “Your life line is long, which means...you’re dependable and there for people when they need you the most.”

He let go of Minho’s hand, who then stared at his palm until he noticed that Kibum was holding out his own. “Oh, right!” He took Kibum’s hand, his fingers warm against his skin, and grabbed the open book from Kibum’s lap. 

“Okay...your head line is long and curved, which means you’re a creative thinker! Which is true...your heart...hey, it’s the same as mine!” He grinned at Kibum before he looked back at his palm. “And your life line is short, which...oh, there it is. It means that when life gets hard, keeping yourself occupied makes you feel better.”

“Interesting. I wonder how true these are.”

“No clue.” Minho sighed, his shoulders slumping as he glanced over at his backpack. “I guess we should get started on our classwork.”


	22. Expensive

\- October 22, 2005 -

Saturday mornings were the best kind of lazy, especially when Minho didn’t have to get ready for Quidditch practice as soon as he opened his eyes. Meg told the team last night that she and Richard, Ravenclaw’s captain, agreed to switch the times that they had the pitch to themselves.

It was almost noon by the time Minho crawled out of bed, and he slipped into his hoodie on his way out of his dorm, not even bothering to change out of his pajamas. The smell wafting into the common room from the kitchen was like a siren’s call to his growling stomach.

Food. He needed food.

He passed several other people who were still in their pajamas on his way up to the Great Hall, which was mostly emptied out now. Flitwick was standing at the base of the dais, shuffling through papers that Minho assumed to be sheet music. He glanced around at the sparsely populated dining hall, finding Kibum sitting beside Geoffry and Stacy from Ravenclaw.

Kibum waved him over, smirking as he looked him up and down. “Did you just wake up?”

“Maybe. What about it?” A plate of toast and eggs, fried sausages and potatoes and mushrooms, and a bowl of sliced peaches appeared before Minho as he sat beside Kibum. He slid the bowl of peaches towards him and started to eat. “How’d you sleep?” he asked between bites.

“Not bad. Oh, hey,” Minho looked up, wiping the juice from the peaches off his lips, as Kibum turned to grab something from his other side. “Geum-nan dropped this off for you and Gilbert brought it over to me.” He pulled out a cardboard box with postage taped to the top.

Minho took another bite before he pulled it over, his eyebrows shooting up. “That’s Minseok’s writing!” His fork fell onto his plate as he ripped open the package, finding that the box was filled to the brim with Halloween candy. In the side, a note was tucked. Minho unwrapped two mini Reese’s cups and popped them into his mouth, motioning for Kibum to go ahead and take some if he wanted before he grabbed the note.

> _Don’t tell Mom and Dad, but I saved up my allowance and bought you this_ shit, _because I don’t know if you get Halloween candy there. Also, I don’t know how long it takes for stuff to get to you so I’m sending this a little early._
> 
> _Hope you have a happy Halloween!_
> 
> _Your totally awesome and cool older brother_

Minho snorted, rolling his eyes as he tucked the note into his hoodie pocket, and looked up to find Kibum unraveling a purple Hershey’s kiss. “This must have been so expensive.”

“You think so?” Minho nodded, and Kibum dug around, pulling out an orange wrapped Reese’s cup. “Are these good?”

“Oh my god, yes.”

At the front of the Great Hall, Flitwick tapped his wand. “Alright, everyone, gather at the front!”

Kibum dropped the Reese’s cup in the box, patting Minho’s shoulder. “See you later, buddy,” he said before he hurried to his place in the Frog Choir.

Flitwick started talking about what they went over last practice. Every time Kibum glanced Minho’s way, he made a funny face. He grinned when Kibum almost cracked up, but stopped annoying him once they music started playing. Instead, he went back to eating as he listened to them sing. If he closed his eyes, he was able to pick Kibum’s voice out of everyone else’s.

He sounded really nice.


	23. Muddy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about the delay, I was focused on getting the newest chapter out and also work, but I'm hoping to crank out a couple more today

_\- October 23, 2005 -_

Whenever it rained, there was a constant dripping that sounded down the hallway past the Slytherin house. No matter how often they searched for the sound, no one could ever find the source. Callum thought that maybe Peeves was the one who caused the original damage, but he had no proof of that. 

Kibum glanced down the darkened hallway before heading to the golden light of the Hufflepuff side of the basement. He hurried down the corridor to the barricade of barrels, leaning on the sideways-turned one by the entrance. 

After lunch, Kibum had told Minho he was going to take a quick nap, and now that he was up, he was ready to play chess or read some of the novels in the library or whatever Minho wanted to do, to be honest. He wasn’t really feeling that picky today. 

He peeked over his shoulder at the creak of the barrel opening. “Hey, Rhesa.”

“Hi!” She brushed her hair over her shoulder as she came around and stood before him, smiling as her head tilted slightly to the side. “What’re you doing over here?”

“Waiting for Minho.” Her smile faltered, and she folded her arms over her chest.  
“Is he in there?”

“I haven’t seen him since lunch.” 

“Oh.” Kibum pushed himself up off the barrel and started walking down the hall.

“You want me to help you?”

His brow furrowed as he smirked before he looked behind him at her. “No, I’m good.” As if he needed help to find his best friend, no matter how big the castle was. “Thanks, though.” A couple other girls joined her at the Hufflepuff entrance, and she let Kibum run off without another word to him.

Kibum jogged up the stairs, debating whether he needed to check the Great Hall or the library first, when he heard it -- Minho’s unmistakable laughter. It came from down the corridor and across from the Great Hall. He started for it, turning when he reached the doorway leading out to the garden and greenhouses.

And, there Minho sat with Professor Sprout in the middle of the garden, their knees and hands muddy from weeding. Both of them were wearing clear ponchos, which looked quite like the ones that Madam Hooch kept down at the Quidditch pitch, and the rain poured around them. Sprout was still chuckling about whatever it was Minho was laughing about -- which, based on what Kibum could see, was the mud that had splattered all up his front and onto his face. 

Kibum smiled and glanced around at the rain as he tried to decide whether or not he wanted to venture outside in this weather or not. He made the mistake of looking back at Minho, who just noticed him standing in the doorway. “Wanna help us?”

He hated weeding. With a passion. It was his least favorite chore to do for Grandma. In fact, he’d rather clean the entire house top to bottom than spend to weed even a section of her greenhouse. 

But, Minho smiled, bright even amidst the gray drizzle, and Kibum sighed.

“Sure.”

His smile grew to a grin as Kibum stepped out into the rain. “No, no, wait there! I’ll go get you a poncho!” He took a step backward, brushing the couple droplets of rain off as he watched Minho run inside Greenhouse 3.


	24. Chop

_\- October 24, 2005 -_

Morning classes were, in Minho’s unbiased opinion, the bane of his existence. What did schools, both magical and Muggle, have against letting their students sleep in until noon? Or even until they woke up naturally? And, to have science class first thing, was the worst possible scenario. Still, as true as that was (and would forever be), for the past couple of days, Minho had been looking forward to going to Potions.

This morning wasn’t any different.

He folded his arms over his chest, rubbing some warmth into them as he passed by Slytherin. The entrance to Slytherin was closed when he passed it, but he still glanced over to see if Kibum would be there, out of habit. 

He wasn’t.

Hopping up the steps in the darkened hallway, Minho turned the corner and hurried down the thin corridor to the pool of warm light spilling out onto the cold stone floor. There were already a could students there, but no Slughorn -- he was probably finishing his morning tea in his office. Minho set his backpack down at his favorite station, getting his textbook, parchment, and quill out and setting them on the workspace to save it. 

A couple boisterous Gryffindors came inside, but Minho didn’t even bother to look over at them as he went over to the wall of shelves made into cubbies and found his cauldron and ladel. He glanced surreptitiously over his shoulder before he reached inside the cauldron to pull out the scrap of parchment he knew would be hidden inside before he started back for his workstation. 

He set his cauldron up on the little rack above the candle and set the ladel aside before he flipped over the parchment, scoffing at the drawing Kibum had left him.

It all started a couple days ago, when he failed to recognize what Kibum was trying to draw. Twice. The next morning, he came into Potions to find a random scrap of parchment with _Guess what I am?_ written on one side and what Minho thought to be a funnily drawn horse on the other tucked into his cauldron. After class, he wrote his guess down and slipped it into Kibum’s cauldron. 

This morning, it looked like a weirdly long person with stringy hair. Minho wasn’t sure what it was supposed to be.

“Good morning, class,” Slughorn said as he stepped inside, and Minho tucked the parchment underneath his book. “I trust you’ve had a good morning thus far?” There were some unenthused murmurs in response, but that didn’t seem to phase the professor. Everyone started opening their books and flipping through the pages to get back to where they left off. “No, no, put away your books. Remember? You’re supposed to have the Shrinking Solution memorized by now.”

Minho huffed quietly as he set his book aside. He glanced down at the parchment again, flipping it over to the blank side and looking up at Slughorn to make sure his back was turned before he scribbled out his guess.

“Alright, why don’t you get your ingredients and get started on preparing them for the potion.” They all got up, milling over to the shelves with the ingredients to grab what they could remember. Minho stopped by the cubbies again, dropping the parchment into Kibum’s before he joined the others. “Don’t forget to chop the daisy roots finely, or else they won’t dissolve!”

It wasn’t until Herbology, their last class of the day, that Minho would find out if he was right or not. He waited outside with the other Hufflepuffs, watching the door for the Slytherins to appear on their way up from Potions. Luckily, Kibum was one of the first to show up, and Minho greeted him with a grin.

“You were close,” Kibum said, smirking somewhat smugly as he glanced around the garden. 

Minho’s eyebrows rose. “Oh?”

“You said mermaid...and it was a merperson.”

“That’s the same thing!”

Kibum snorted, his own smile blooming as he moved out of his reach and started for the greenhouse that Sprout had just opened the door to. Minho rolled his eyes, chuckling as he followed him inside.


	25. Prickly

_\- October 25, 2005 -_

"...and so, in light of how popular this new game was, something needed to be done about the probable extinction of the Golden Snidget, because it was evident that wizards everywhere would not stop playing Quidditch until there were not a single one of those birds left. It wasn’t until the head of the Wizard’s Council, Elfrida Clagg, declared the Snidget to be a protected species. A substitution for the bird needed to be found, and that is where Bowman Wright, a metal-charmer, stepped in...”

Kibum’s eyes drooped closed before he shook his head to wake himself up. Again. Why was History of Magic so boring? He glanced over at Minho to find him nodding off as well. Sighing, he sat up and tucked his feet underneath him as he sat back down. 

One of them had to stay awake and take notes, Kibum had just assumed it would be Minho when Binns said that they’d be talking about Quidditch today. Whatever, it was fine. Minho mentioned before Charms started that he had had trouble sleeping last night, so he needed his rest. 

“...there were several prototypes that proceeded the Snitch we know today, and it wasn’t until the March of 1384, almost a full year after Wright began his project, that the Snitch was approved as the replacement for the Golden Snidget.”

Kibum smiled when Minho leaned over, resting his head on Kibum’s shoulder. He stretched his arm out a little, hopefully making his shoulder a little more comfortable for Minho. The class dragged on and on, Kibum’s hand was aching by the time the bell rang to dismiss them. Minho didn’t start to wake up until the other students were packing up their things to head to lunch. 

He sat up, blinking slowly as the others were moving around them on their way out the door. “Sorry...” 

Kibum rolled up their notes with a frown. “For what?”

“Um...” He held his backpack open for Kibum to pack up their stuff. “I don’t know.” He yawned as he tried to fasten the top.

“Well, I forgive you, for whatever it was.” He glanced over and smiled at Minho’s sleepy grin. “Ready?”

“Yeah.” Kibum untucked his legs and moved to stand, but he grabbed the desk to keep his balance. “What’s wrong?”

Both his legs, from the knees down, were completely numb. He wiggled his toes as the prickly sensation slowly overtook the numbness. “Shit...” Kibum sat back down, rubbing some feeling back into his legs.

“Were you sitting on your legs again?”

“...maybe.”

Minho sighed as he plopped down beside him. “I still don’t understand why you do that.”

“It’s comfortable!” Minho rolled his eyes as he turned toward him. “Like, in the moment, it is.”

“Sure, okay.” Kibum scoffed at the sarcasm in Minho’s voice and stamped his foot on the ground. The prickly sensation was blessedly gone. “You good to go?” 

“Yup!”


	26. Stretch

_\- October 26, 2005 -_

“Okay, so everyone,” Professor Sprout said, effectively quieting the class before they got too rowdy. “Split up into pairs, and start harvesting the dried nettles. Make sure you’re wearing gloves.”

Gilbert raised his hand, and she nodded to him. “We’re saving the actual nettles, right?” She nodded again. “What about the stalks?”

“Set aside the stalks for the kitchen to make nettle soup.” Kibum patted Minho’s knee before he got up to grab the vials, tweezers, and one of the bundles of nettles that had been drying for the past month in Greenhouse 4. Minho reached across the table, grabbing two pairs of gloves to protect their hands.

He handed a pair to Kibum as he returned, dumping all the things onto the table before them. “That’s so weird, making soup out of nettles.” 

“I’ve had it.” Minho glanced over at him, his eyebrows shooting up. “It’s not bad. Neither is nettle tea, and Grandma says nettle wine is pretty good, so...”

“What does it taste like?”

Kibum pulled a couple of nettle stings, dropping them into the glass vial. “Kinda like...spicy grass.” Minho coughed, laughing, and pushed himself away from the table. “What? That’s what it tasted like!” Kibum said, giggling himself. Both sobered up quickly when Sprout cleared her throat. 

They went back to plucking the stings, Minho shaking his to settle them to see how many he had so far. “There’s not very many.”

“It’s just one stalk, though,” Kibum said, discarding his now cleaned stalk in the center of the table before reaching for another one from the bundle. 

“Don’t we need these for potions?”

Kibum hummed, nodding. “The Boil-Cure is the only one I can think of at the moment, but I know there’s more.”

They were quiet for a moment, concentrated on getting as many done before class as they could. When Minho finished his third, he dropped his tweezers on the table and stretched his hand out in front of him. “There was this nettle bush behind our house in Korea.” Kibum glanced over at him before he went back to plucking. “Jinki -- that’s my friend -- “

“You’ve mentioned him.”

“Yeah, anyways, Jinki and I were playing in the backyard with Minseok one day, hide and seek, if I remember right.”

Kibum set his tweezers down, massaging his hand, as Minho picked his back up. “Oh, no, did he hide in the nettles?”

Minho shook his head. “Yeah, no, he tripped and fell into them. We had to help him get out so we got stung, too. The next day, my dad went out and got rid of it, so at least there’s that.”

“At least. Were you guys okay?”

“No. We all died.” Kibum snorted, smacking Minho’s arm. They both glanced over at Professor Sprout, who was inspecting the vial that Candace brought to her. “Come on, we’re almost done.” He shook his head, still smiling, and Minho grinned as he picked up the last stalk from their bunch.


	27. Thunder

_\- October 27, 2005 -_

Nighttime at Hogwarts was usually a peaceful experience. The creaks of the old castle were the loudest sounds followed by the occasional sparks from the torches lining the halls. Most everyone was tucked away in their common rooms, doing whatever they wanted while they waited for light’s out. It was usually Kibum’s favorite time of day -- he enjoyed the serenity and the chance to hang out with just Minho.

It was nice.

Tonight, however, there was a thunderstorm.

He had seen the storm clouds forming in the enchanted ceiling during dinner, and since then, he had been dreading the inevitable first thunderclap. It came once he and Minho were up in their study closet, rumbling around them. Kibum pulled his blanket a little tighter around him as he glanced at the walls, making sure that they weren’t about to crumble down around them.

That was one nice thing about living in the basement here at Hogwarts: when storms came, most of the time you wouldn’t even know. 

Kibum took a deep breath once the night grew quiet again and went back to looking over his notes from Transfiguration. Minho sat beside him, his feet peeking out of the bottom of their shared blanket. He turned the page of his Defense textbook and looked up when the thunder roared again.

“Woah!” His eyes were bright with excitement when he looked over at Kibum. “It’s so...hey, you okay?”

“Yeah...” The thunder died down again, and Kibum smoothed the roll of parchment on his lap. “Yeah, I’m fine...it’s just louder up here.”

“We can stop for the night, if you want.” Kibum shook his head and Minho went back to reading, glancing over at him again whenever the thunder sounded again. After the third time, Minho started packing up his stuff.

“What are you doing?”

“We don’t have any tests tomorrow, so we don’t really have to study.” 

“Yeah, but...” He gulped when the thunder clapped again and shivered when Minho took their blanket and started folding it up. “It’s really not a big deal, Min...” 

Minho passed him his stack of textbooks, sighing when he didn’t take it right away. “Come on, Bummie.” Kibum was about to protest, but then the thunder sounded again. He took them and Minho blew the candles out as soon as Kibum opened the door. 

It didn’t take them long to get to the basement, and Kibum let out a deep breath as soon as they stepped into the cool air of the basement. Minho patted his back, offering him a smile before he headed down the hall toward Hufflepuff. “Hey,” Minho stopped, looking over his shoulder at him. “Thanks.”

“No problem.”


	28. Gift

_\- October 28, 2005 -_

Minho coughed, the hazy air of the Divination classroom tickling his throat. He readjusted his hold on Kibum’s hand, squinting at the lines in his palm and fingers. 

“This is so boring,” Kibum murmured, and Minho sniffed in amusement.

At the table behind them, Seb leaned forward, whispering, “Do you think we should try distracting her again? It worked well enough last time.”

“What with, though?” 

Seb leaned back, raising his hand to get Trelawney’s attention, while Minho and Kibum hunched back over. “Yes, my child?” she asked, her low and airy voice loud in the silence of the classroom.

“A couple weeks ago, you mentioned the gift of sight, but like, what does that mean?”

She let out a long sigh. “It’s often confused with intuition, or at least that’s the Muggle terminology for it. The gift of sight is something you feel in your soul, when you can close your eyes and see far into the future. Back in ancient Greece, seers -- namely women -- were called oracles, and they were far more respected than we are in this day in age. In fact -- “

Seb leaned forward again. “You’re welcome.” 

Kibum stretched and yawned, sitting back in his armchair as he started to doze off, and Minho scooted his ottoman closer to Kibum’s chair, leaning against the side. He didn’t fall asleep, but he zoned out as she rambled on and on about a specific oracle...Pythia? Whatever, as long as she was talking about this, she wasn’t assigning them any homework.

She went on past the ringing of the bell announcing the end of the period. Was she ranting about fake seers who give real seers a bad reputation? Minho shook Kibum’s shoulder, rousing him before he started to pack up their things.

“Oh,” she blinked, her eyes unusually large in her thick glasses. “Is it already that time?” 

“Yes, ma’am,” Travis said, looking over at Seb and giving him a thumbs-up when she turned her back on the class.

“Ah, I seem to have lectured for too long again today, my apologies, dear children. We’ll pick up where we left off on Wednesday, alright? You may go,” she said with a wave of her hand. 

“No homework?” Kibum mouthed to Minho, who shook his head. They grinned as they followed the rest of the class to the trapdoor.


	29. Double

_\- October 29, 2005 -_

The door to the Great Hall opened and closed, and Kibum and the rest of the Frog Choir looking down at Professor Flitwick as he walked toward them. “Ready?” Several of the others nodded, and Kibum gulped. “We’re on in one minute.”

Today was the first time the Frog Choir was performing in front of the whole school. To say he was nervous was a bit of an understatement. One of the toads behind Kibum croaked, Kibum jumping at the sound. 

Stacy tapped his shoulder. “What’s the song order again?” 

“Uh, _Double Trouble_ , _Prifma_ , and, uh, _Pulsatione Campane_.”

“Just those three?” Kibum nodded. “Right, we aren’t ready with _In Noctem_ yet.”

Before he could respond, the door opened again and Flitwick snapped his fingers. Everyone found the place in the line and followed him out into the Great Hall. Kibum could feel each and every pair of eyes watching them as they walked out to stand in their formation before the dais. He searched the tables for Minho but couldn’t find him before Flitwick raised his wand.

Kibum shook his tambourine in time with the other handheld percussion instruments, steading his breathing before it was time for them to sing. _Double Trouble_ was a classic Hogwarts song and the first song they memorized as a group. _Prifma_ was sung partially in English and Latin, and _Pulsantione Campane_ was sung entirely in Latin. It took them forever to memorize the Latin lyrics, but Flitwick seemed proud of them, so it was worth it.

His throat was completely dry by the time they finished singing. Flitwick gestured to the back room with his wand, and Kenneth led the back row off the dais. In the few seconds he had before he turned to leave, Kibum scanned the Hufflepuff table, finding Minho easily now that he was one of the only ones standing as he clapped. Kibum grinned as he turned to leave with the others. 

“Good job, everyone,” Flitwick said once the door was closed behind him. Kibum set the tambourine away as the others did the same with their toads, ravens, and drums. “Remember, no practice next Saturday, since we’ll be going to Hogsmeade again.” He waved them out of the room as he opened the door to the Great Hall again. “Go on now, enjoy your dinner!”

“Yes, sir!”

They filed back into the Great Hall and found their places at their tables, standing out in their robes among the sea of weekend casual clothes. Kibum sat down by Analecia, glancing across the table at Aaron and Callum. “What’d you guys think?”

All three of them were trying not to smile, which was concerning, but not as concerning as the guy next to him throwing his arm over his shoulder unexpectedly. "Hey!” Kibum tried to shove his arm off, but stopped when he started to laugh. Minho? He looked over at him, surprised that he hadn’t noticed his best friend was sitting beside him. “What...what are you doing over here?”

“I came to tell you that you did well!” Minho said as he dropped his arm from Kibum’s shoulder.

“Thanks! You didn’t have to...”

“Of course I did.” Kibum started dishing himself up some dinner, and Minho reached across the table to grab a fresh roll. “So, how was your day?”


	30. Jolt

_\- October 30, 2005 -_

The chill of the gray-sky seeped into Minho’s bones as he sat high above the Quidditch pitch on his broomstick. He shivered, glancing back over to where Kibum stood in the stands. 

“Ready?” Kibum called out, and Minho waved in response. A second later, a golden walnut shot across the field and Minho dove to catch it. He pocketed it, pushing off the ground when Kibum threw the next one in the opposite direction. Once he had caught all three, he flew up to where Kibum was and dug the walnuts out of his hoodie pocket. “How many more rounds?”

“Not sure,” he said, shoving away from the stands to go back to the center of the arena.

Minho kept going until his knuckles were red and his teeth were chattering and the sky began to drizzle. He flew back up to Kibum once he caught the last walnut, handing them over before he started to fly away again. Only...he jolted forward instead of backward when Kibum grabbed hold of his broomstick and holding him there.

“What.”

“Minho, come on, let’s go inside.” He frowned and tried to push Kibum’s hand off his broom, and when that didn’t work, he reached for the walnuts, only to have Kibum shove them into his pocket. “Come on, you’re ready. You’re cold, I’m cold, let’s go get hot cocoa or something.”

He shivered again, refusing to meet Kibum’s eyes. “Just one more round.”

“You said that two rounds ago.” Kibum held his hand up when Minho started to protest. “You’re ready, okay? You can only practice so much, you know?”

“...yeah.”

Kibum reached out, placing his warm hand over Minho’s cold one. “You’re gonna do great tomorrow. Win or lose, I know you’ll do your best.”

“I guess that’s true.”

Kibum squeezed his hand before he let go of his broomstick. “I’ll meet you downstairs.” Minho nodded before he left Kibum and flew down to the pitch, running to the Hufflepuff hallway once he hit the ground.


	31. Slice

_\- October 31, 2005 -_

The excited chatter of the Hufflepuffs carried all throughout the Great Hall, even over the din of the other tables. Kibum smiled at the sound, cutting off a bite of his pumpkin spice cake. He was excited for them -- well, Minho mostly, of course. It meant a lot to him to win that Quidditch game, more than a lot, and Kibum could only imagine the weight that was lifted off of Minho’s shoulders and the utter relief he must be feeling right now.

Kibum glanced across the Great Hall to where Minho usually sat, finding it empty. He sighed, and went back to eating his cake. 

It didn’t seem fair that Minho was stuck in the infirmary, probably listening to the Halloween feast and wishing he could join in. Kibum licked his fork clean of the cream cheese frosting once he finished his cake, looking back across the Great Hall. After a second of thought, Kibum grabbed a new for and another slice of cake, pushing away from the table. 

“I’ll see you guys later.” 

Analecia and Aaron nodded and Callum waved at him as he left the table. He headed down the torch-lit corridor to the infirmary, cautiously stepping inside. Minho was the only one inside, eating his own personal Halloween feast. Surround him were bags and packages from Hogsmeade, presumably bought for him by his teammates. 

Kibum stopped a couple strides inside, feeling sort of stupid standing there with his plate of cake for Minho. But then, Minho looked up, his smile bright when he saw Kibum. “Hey! How’s the feast?”

“It’s as good as it is every year,” he said as he went over Minho’s bed, sitting on the side. “Thought you might like some cake.”

Minho set his almost-empty plate of food down on the side table. “That is the one thing Pomfrey didn’t bring me.” Kibum chuckled, handing the cake to Minho.

“How are you feeling, buddy?”

“Good,” Minho said around his mouthful of cake. “Really good.”

“What about your ankle?”

“It hurts a bit, but...I don’t know, I feel like it’s worth it. I’m just sorry you couldn’t go to Hogsmeade today. I know you were re -- “

“Minho.” He took a deep breath, relaxing into his pillow. “Don’t feel bad. It’s not like this was our one chance to go.”

He nodded, cutting off another bite of cake. “I know.”

“Besides, there’s gonna be another trip this Saturday.” Minho’s eyebrows shot up as he wiped a bit of frosting off his lip, and Kibum grabbed one of the packages from Hogsmeade. “Based off what they got you, where do you think we should go first?”

“Zonko’s! Oh, wait, maybe Honeydukes!”


	32. Surprise

_\- December 9, 2005 -_

Snow fell from the clouds floating in the enchanted ceiling, glittering in the flames of the floating candles and the morning light from the windows around the Great Hall. Minho finished smearing his dirigible plum marmalade onto his toast and set aside his butter knife just as the first owl flew inside.

Instantly, he looked up, watching the openings at the top of the wall for Geum-nun. He wasn’t expecting much for his birthday from his family, since he’d be home soon, but he was still a little hopeful.

He only had to wait for a few moments before she appeared, snowflakes clinging to her charcoal feathers. There was a letter in her beak and it fluttered onto the table once she landed. She made this soft hooting sound when Minho stroked her chest feathers in thanks, and she flew away to the owlery with the others.

Minho eagerly tore into the letter, ignoring the excited chatter of his roommates as they either ate or opened their own mail. He smoothed the stationery out with one and picked up his toast with the other, eating as he started to read.

> _Dear Minho,_
> 
> _Happy birthday! I hope your day goes well and you have fun with Kibum and your other friends. I’m sorry we didn’t send you a birthday gift this year. Your father and I decided that you wouldn’t need something material right now, as you would be packing it to come home in just a few weeks. There is something waiting for you, though what it is, you’ll have to wait and see._

He breathed a sigh of relief, glancing up when he saw movement from the opposite end of the Great Hall. What was Kibum doing? Minho lowered his toast and letter of a second as Kibum leaped out of his seat and started running for the door. He had half a mind to follow after him to see what was the matter, but his brow furrowed when Kibum bolted past the double doors and continued on toward the Hufflepuff table.

Both he and Gilbert scooted over, making room for Kibum to join them. Just in time, too. He slipped in beside them, panting slightly as he held out a periwinkle envelope to Minho.

“What -- “

“Just open it.”

Minho dropped his letter beside his plate, taking the proffered letter from Kibum. As he did, the periwinkle envelope started to vibrate in his hands. “Uh...”

He flipped it over, sliding his finger under the flap and breaking the violet wax seal. The letter slipped out of his hand and floated about an arms-length in front of him. Minho blinked rapidly as he watched the letter unfold itself and form what looked like a mouth.

“Kibum, what is th -- “ Kibum patted his arm, his dimples barely showing as he shushed him.

“ _Vous êtes prêts?_ ” Jonghyun whispered, and Minho glanced at Kibum before leaning in closer to the floating letter.

“ _Sommes-nous la chanter en français ou en anglais?_ “ a voice Minho didn’t recognize asked.

“ _Anglais_.” There was a pause, and then someone cleared their throat. “ _Trois...deux...un._ ” Another pause, shorter this time. It was broken when a singing blasted out of the letter, startling Minho enough that it took a second for him to catch that Jonghyun and his roommates -- probably -- were singing Happy Birthday to him.

Minho jumped back, leaning into Kibum as he watched the mouth of the letter move in time to the song. People were staring, and not just from the Hufflepuff table. The entire Great Hall had gone quieter than it had in the years that Minho had been at Hogwarts. He gulped when Jonghyun and his friends stopped singing, and he reached forward to crumple the still floating letter.

He stopped, however, when Jonghyun spoke again, but this time in Korean. “Happy birthday, Min!” There was a definite smile in his voice. “I hope you’re not too embarrassed. If you are, this was totally Kibum’s idea and I had nothing to do with it, but if you aren’t, you’re so welcome!” Minho laughed and glanced over at Kibum, who was sheepishly grinning. “Anyways, I hope you have a fantastic day and that we’ll get to hang out more this summer! Bye!”

The letter folded in on itself before it shredded into strands of ivory, periwinkle, and violet confetti.

Minho flicked pieces of confetti off of his plate before he glanced up, looking around at the other in the Great Hall. They had all mostly gone back to eating their breakfast, except for the Hufflepuffs closest to him and Kibum.

“Are you mad at me?”

“Why would I be mad?”

Kibum let out a sigh. “Good. Grandma made you a dosirak with all your favorites. And a scarf. I think there are some pumpkin pasties in there for you, too.”

“Not for you?”

“If they’re for me, I’ll share, of course. Analecia is guarding my package so I don’t have to worry about Callum or Aaron stealing.” Minho peeled another piece of confetti off of his toast and noticed the discarded letter from his mom that he hadn’t finished. “Is that from your family?” He nodded, picking it up to read once more. “What’d they send you?”

“Just this letter. Mom said I’d get my birthday gift when I get home for Christmas.”

“Ah.”

“Now, shush, I’m still reading.” He didn’t even have to look at Kibum to know he was making some sort of sarcastic expression or gesture. Minho elbowed his sighed, snorting in amusement when Kibum protested.

> _Your brother went on a trip with his class to London, and he said that since you’re coming home for Christmas, we should all go as a family. Your father and I are still discussing it, but I think it would be a lot of fun to take you, because you haven’t really seen much of London, have you? It sounds like he had a lot of fun. He even went ice skating, and I know how much you like that._

Minho snorted and shook his head when Kibum looked over at him in question. Ice skating was not really something he was very good at. He’d only been, like, twice with his family, and he was so uncoordinated that his parents jokingly called him Bambi.

But, that was years ago, and maybe he his few years of flying would help with his coordination? “You ever go ice skating?” he asked Kibum as he took a sip of his pumpkin juice, then passed it to Kibum when he held out his hand for it.

“Uh, once. It was at Rockafeller Center in New York. Mrs. Fuller -- one of my mom’s friends -- took me and her daughters there while my parents went to a doctor’s appointment.”

“Ah. Did you like it?”

“Yeah! It’s kinda hard though. Why?”

Minho held up the letter. “Apparently we’re planning on going during the break.”

“Oh...”

> _We’re all excited that you’re able to come home this year. We’re even waiting to set up the tree until you get home._
> 
> _It’ll probably be easiest if we buy you a ticket to take the train home, instead of coming down to pick you up, so expect a letter with your ticket a day or two before your break._
> 
> _Love, Mom_

Minho folded up the letter and tucked it into his backpack on the floor. “Is your mom picking you up?”

“I’ll probably take the Knight Bus.” He laughed when Minho shuddered in memory of his short trips. “Come on, it’s not that bad once you get used to it.”

“I don’t believe you.” Minho took his pumpkin juice back from Kibum. “So, what are your plans for the break?”

“Uh, Jjong will be there after Christmas and until New Years, but other than that, we’ll just be at home, I think.” Both were quiet for a moment, lost in their own thoughts. “It’ll be weird.”

“Hmm?”

“Not being with you for Christmas.”

“Yeah.” The first bell of the day rang, and everyone around them hurriedly finished their breakfasts. Kibum jumped up, waving goodbye to Minho as he ran back to Slytherin’s table to collect his books.

They didn’t cross paths at the doorway, which meant they wouldn’t see each other until Charms later on. Sighing, Minho descended the stairs and continued on to the Potions classroom, collecting his things. He checked inside his cauldron and saw a note inside.

> _Happy birthday, buddy! Hope your day is amazing!_

Minho slipped the note into his pocket with a smile.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I don't speak French (I used a non-Google translate translator lol), so what Jjong says is "You guys ready?" followed by his buddy asking "Are we singing it in French or in English?" and then Jjong replies "English" and counts them into singing happy birthday. If it's wrong, just let me know and I'll fix it lol but if not, yay! lol


	33. Exchange

_\- January 7, 2006 -_

“Guess what finally came today,” Kibum said as he took up the empty spot beside Minho at the Hufflepuff table. When Minho looked up -- his mouth full of pancakes -- Kibum shook the small box in his hand, the Boötes necklace rattling inside.

“Is that my Christmas present?” 

Minho’s shoulders drooped when Kibum nodded, and Kibum’s smile turned to a frown. “What’s the matter?”

“I don’t have one for you yet.”

“You mean you didn’t get me one during the break?” Minho hung his head, half-heartedly cutting another bite out of his pancakes. “Min, I’m kidding. You don’t have to get me something.” He slid it toward him on the table. “I just saw this while we were in Diagon Alley and I thought you’d like it.” 

Minho tore his eyes away from the box. “Can...this wait until after we go to Hogsmeade today?” 

Kibum’s eyebrows rose as he pocketed the little box. “Sure.” The door on the left side of the dais opened and shut, seemingly of its own accord, until he saw Flitwick come around to the front, a bundle of what was probably sheet music in hand. “Hey, I gotta go to practice.”

“Have fun! We’ll head down after I get out of Quidditch practice.”

“Wait, you still have to practice today?” 

“Yeah..?”

“But it’s snowing!” 

Minho snorted into his pumpkin juice and he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. “That doesn’t mean practice gets canceled. I’ll be fine, don’t worry. The uniforms are surprisingly warm.” 

“Sure, okay.” He got up from his seat and started for the dais.

“Are we meeting at the courtyard?” Kibum gave him a thumbs-up over his shoulder without turning around. Once he rounded the corner of the Hufflepuff table, he jogged to where Flitwick and the rest of the Frog Choir were gathering. He took his music from Flitwick, glancing over the new song. 

When he looked back to where Minho was sitting, he found that he was already gone.

* * * * * * * * * *

Minho’s teeth were still chattering by the time he reached the outdoor courtyard. He huffed a laugh when Kibum glared at him. “I’m fine, Bu -- “

“You sure sound fine.” 

So maybe now wasn’t the best time that he almost slipped off of his broom during practice because of the layer of ice coating the stick. 

“Ready?” 

Kibum turned and Minho jogged a couple of steps to catch up to him. Their boots crunched in the snow, the loudest sound in his beanie-covered ears. He blinked the snowflakes off of his eyelashes as he looked around. 

The Black Lake was mostly frozen over, snow drifting against the rocks that peeked out of the ice. Dull gray clouds covered the sky, heavy with the promise of more snow. Wispy white clouds blew past the gray one, the wind carrying them toward the castle. Minho shivered at the memory of the wind that tossed him this way and that during practice and he hovered a little closer to Kibum as they walked.

The warm torchlight from Hogsmeade dotted the horizon, illuminating the falling snow. As they drew closer, it engulfed the snow-covered village and the countryside beyond, setting it all aglow. 

Minho grabbed Kibum’s arm and dragged him inside the post office before they did anything else. He pulled his Christmas money out of his pocket, as they waited in line. It took a bit of discussion to get his ₩ 50,000 exchanged to the wizard’s currency, but they eventually walked out of there with 7 Ģ, 2 Ş, and 8 Ķ. 

He clinked his change in his hand before he shoved it into his pocket. “So, where do you want to go?”

They agreed on getting hot cocoa first. To-go, this time. The bell above the Madam Pudifoot’s door didn’t jingle as they stepped inside, and Minho stopped to look up at it. Kibum stepped up to the counter, ordering for them and Minho shook his head as he moved forward to join him there. 

Deja vu was the weirdest thing. 

He paid for their drinks, and soon they were on their way to explore the shops, their cocoa warming them up with every sip. Kibum wanted to go to Tomes and Scrolls first, and Minho kept a close eye on him, gauging his expression with everything that caught his interest. There were a couple of books he made a mental note of, but soon they moved on to the next shop. 

Nothing at Maestro’s or Dervish & Banges or Scrivenshafts seemed to excite him, even if they did have fun looking around at the shops. His expression just wasn’t lighting up like Minho wanted to see. As he followed Kibum into Gladrags Wizardwear, he hoped his panic wasn’t showing on his face. Maybe he should just slip away and get that book that caught Kibum’s eye. What was it called again? _Murders and Mysteries by Magical Means_? Whatever, he’d know it when he’d see it.

When he was about to turn away, he glanced over at Kibum and stopped in his tracks. Kibum’s mouth was slightly agape as he took in the whole shop. Minho looked around for himself, blinking at the bright swath of colors in the fabrics from all of the clothes. He followed Kibum around for a little while, amused by his reaction to the Muggle clothes section -- which looked like it was taken straight out of the 80s...or even 70s. 

He started to peruse the store himself, scanning the racks and shelves for something that screamed: “Kibum would love this”. He stopped at a bin of socks, sifting through them. There were pairs that screamed when they needed to be cleaned, which, as funny as it was to imagine Kibum wearing them, they didn’t seem like his sort of thing. 

He dug a little further in the pile, pulling out a pack of four socks. _For Every Season_ , they were called. Minho looked over his shoulder to see where Kibum was, snorting when he held up a hideous sweater to his chest as he inspected it in the mirror. He laughed a second later, the sound carrying through the shop. 

Minho flipped over the bundle of socks to read the label on the back. _Are your feet always cold in the winter? Too hot in the summer? Look no further than_ For Every Season _socks! These socks were knitted with magic to maintain the perfect temperature for your feet, no matter what!_ “Huh...” He slowly flipped through the socks in his hands, enchanted by the seasonal scenes coming to life across them. “I wonder if these actually work.” 

It would be nice if they did since Kibum’s feet were almost always cold. He would tuck the tips of his toes under Minho’s thigh when they were studying up in the closet to warm them. This might be something he would need...but also really like, because the seasonal scenes were kind of pretty. 

Would it be stupid to get him socks, though? No, he could actually use them...he just didn’t want Kibum to be disappointed with his present. 

With a heavy sigh, Minho made his way to the counter with the socks in hand. Another glance over his shoulder told him that Kibum was distracted by the shoes now. The woman behind the counter rang him up and wrapped the socks for him when he asked. He tucked the package into his coat, patting it down as he went over to where Kibum was watching shoes dance across the floor. 

“I don’t even know,” he said when Minho stepped up beside him. “Do you know what dance that is?” Minho shook his head and watched the footwork pattern for a minute before he tried to copy it. 

HIs attempt only made Kibum laugh, and he hung onto Minho’s shoulder to catch his breath once he stopped trying to dance. “Ready to head back?” 

Kibum’s eyebrows shot up. “Did you already buy my present?” Minho nodded. “When?”

“Just now.” 

Kibum reached into his pocket and pulled out the little box, handing it to him. In return, Minho grabbed the bundle beneath his coat and passed it to Kibum. He averted his eyes as Kibum tore into the paper, focusing intently on opening his box as slowly as possible.

“Oh my god, these will be perfect!” Minho’s breath caught as he looked back over at Kibum, relieved to see him grinning as he inspected each of the socks. “I could really use them.” He froze when Kibum met his eye as when went over to the bench. “Hurry! Open yours!” he said as he sat down and pulled off his boots and old socks. 

Minho popped open the lid, gasping when he saw the silver necklace with the Boötes constellation as its pendant. 

“Okay, so I already love these. My feet were so cold until, like, right now.” Minho nodded absently without looking away from the necklace. Soon, Kibum’s hands infiltrated his view, and he pulled the necklace out of the box. “Crouch down a little.” Minho did, and his lifted his chin as Kibum held the necklace around his neck and fastened the clasp. 

Minho examined the pendant a little bit longer before he tucked it inside his coat. “Thank you, Kibum,” he said softly.

“I’m just glad you like it.” He went back to the bench to put his boots back on. “Do we want to stay here or head back to the castle?”

“Castle. But let’s get another cocoa before we head back.” 

“First the socks, now this? You’ve got nothing but good ideas today!” 

“You don’t have to sound so surprised.” 

Kibum scoffed -- which made Minho laugh -- as he shoved his old and new socks into his pockets, and he followed Minho to the door. Both shivered as they stepped back outside into the cold, and they huddled as close to each other as they could while they walked back to Madam Puddifoot’s shop.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _**A/N:** I've got four out of the seven chapters I need to write before I can post again done! Posting this today as a thank you for your patience with me ^^ I'll be back with the main story sooner rather than later, don't worry!_


	34. Menaces

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Can be read before Chapter 31 of the main story!

_\- June 12, 2006 -_

"Mom! Grandma!” Kibum closed the front door behind him. “Mail’s here!”

“Just put it on the counter, honey,” Grandma called from the living room.

“Okay...” Kibum sifted through the mail -- a lot of ads, discounts at Diagon Alley, mostly. He tore off the _Buy one cone, get one free_ for Fortescue’s and pocketed it as he set the rest of the mail on the counter. As he was about to walk away, he spotted a letter, so he pulled back the ads.

Minho wrote to him? Already?

Smiling, he glanced into the living room, making sure Grandma was doing fine -- she was, just knitting -- before he took the letter from the pile and darted up to his room. He had it open and out before he laid down on his bed to read it.

> _Dear Kibum,_
> 
> _You know how we bought those candies to give to Minseok and Jjong? I just gave the lollipop to Minseok and it was amazing._
> 
> _Okay, so..._

* * * * *

Minho started at the soft knock at the door, looking away from Geum-nan and where she was in the night sky. “Come in? Oh, hey, Minseok!”

“You don’t have to unpack tonight, you know.”

“I know, but I don’t want to wait too long.” Minseok closed the door behind him, sitting cross-legged on the floor on the other side of Minho’s duffle bag as Minho did the same. “What are you doing?” Minho asked as Minseok started digging around in the side pocket closest to him.

“Do you have any of those chocolate frog things?”

Minho scoffed, opening the other pocket. “No, they’re expensive. Maybe when I go to Diagon Alley before school, though. I did buy this for you, though!” He whipped out the blood lollipop, doing his best not to crack a devious smile. Minseok’s eyes lit up as he took it, taking off the clear wrapper. “It’s either strawberry or cherry, I can’t remember.”

“Does it...do anything?”

“Uh...it, uh, fizzles when you suck on it.”

“Mm.” Minseok popped the whole lollipop in his mouth, and Minho had to cough so he didn’t laugh. His eyebrows furrowed, and Minho looked down at his duffle bag as he tried to distract himself with unpacking. “Are you sure it’s cherry?”

“Could be strawberry.”

“Huh...” Minho turned away when Minseok started smacking his lips. “I don’t think so. What’s so funny?”

“Hm? Nothing...”

Minseok licked his lips, leaving them blood red. “This is like that jelly bean thing, again, isn’t it.” Minho bit his lips, his shoulders shaking in silent laughter. “Do I want to know what flavor this is?”

“Probably not.”

“Okay.” He popped the lollipop back in his mouth as he stood and headed for the door. “Glad you’re home, dumbass,” he said as he closed the door behind him.

* * * * *

> _...I can’t believe he finished it! And that he wasn’t able to tell what it was. Anyways, I can’t wait to hear how Jjong reacts to the fudge!_
> 
> _Love, Min_

Kibum chuckled, reading over the letter again, and looked up when the front door opened downstairs. Once he finished, he folded it up and stuffed it under his pillow, finding Mom putting her purse on the table by the door. “You almost ready to go?”

“Where?”

“London. Grandma has an appointment.”

Kibum held back a heavy sigh. “Yeah, let me change out of my pajamas first.”

* - * - *

_\- August 13, 2006 -_

With a heavy sigh, Minho hung up the receiver. Kibum sounded like he was doing okay, and that he was hanging out a lot with Jonghyun. As he walked out of the kitchen, he could feel some of the nervous energy that he had been accumulating leave him.

He was okay.

“Come here,” he muttered as he scooped Ember up, cooing at her despite her half-hearted protest meows. She was purring in his arms by the time he reached his room. “Let’s pick up where we left off,” he said as he arranged himself on his bed, letting Ember curl up where she wanted. Which, apparently, was on his chest.

“June twenty-fifth,” he said, reading the envelope as he tore it open.

> _Min,_
> 
> _When I say Jonghyun is the most dramatic, I’m not forgetting Mitch’s meltdown in Potions. I’ve said it before, that Jjong hates fudge, but oh my God..._

* * * * *

"What, you’re not hiding in the closet this time?”

Kibum looked up from the book he was reading to find Jonghyun standing in his doorway. “First of all, that was one time, and Minho and I were having a discussion. Secondly, hello to you, too!”

Jonghyun snorted and moved into the room, plopping down on Kibum’s bed. “Did you miss me?”

“Do I have to tell the truth?”

“Of course not.”

“Then, yes.” Jonghyun cracked up, which made Kibum break. “No, but really,” Kibum said once Jonghyun stopped laughing. “How was your year?”

They both filled each other in on what all had happened to them during the course of their school years, though there wasn’t much to tell, as they both kept in pretty close contact. “Oh, hey, I got you something.” Kibum sat up, holding out his hand for Jonghyun to drop a ring in his palm. “Apparently it reads your moods? The Pasma -- wait, sorry -- the Muggleborn students were pretty amused by them.”

“How does it -- oh...” He blinked, watching the ring change from silver to dark green. “What does that mean?”

“That you’re in Slytherin?” Kibum scoffed, looking up at Jonghyun. “I don’t know, Ki, I lost the paper that came with it.”

He sucked his teeth before he jumped off the bed. “I got you something, too.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah,” Kibum said, digging around in the drawer of his dresser. He grabbed the box of fudge flies and tossed it across the room at Jonghyun.

It looked as though Jonghyun was about to thank him, but then it registered what he was holding. “Are you...fucking serious?” Kibum held his fist in front of his mouth, trying really hard not to laugh out loud. “Fudge? Fucking fudge? You got me...fudge?”

“Yes, I did,” he said in the most condescending tone he could muster without cracking up.

Jonghyun’s shoulders were shaking -- with both anger and laughter. “I got you a ring, out of the goodness of my heart, and you got me the most despicable substance on the planet?”

“Have you never had a vomit bean before?”

His mouth popped open in disgust, and he struggled not to laugh when Kibum finally broke. “I would rather eat only vomit beans for a week than eat even one of these goddamn flies. I am a good friend and you...” he shook his head, opening the box of flies and letting them all free to fly about the room. “I hope they fucking melt in your goddamn bed.” Then, in a huff, he stormed out of the room, only to pop in a second later. “I have to go to practice, bye,” he said, his voice shifting to be overly sweet compared to the faux anger in his tone just seconds before.

He didn’t seem to notice the fudge fly that landed on his shoulder before he closed the door behind him. It only took him a couple of steps though, judging by his yelling.

* * * * *

> _...Also, don’t worry. I got all the flies out of my room before they could melt or anything. I’m thinking next time we can get a stringmints container and mix in strongmints...but, it might be better to do that to someone we don’t like rather than Jjong. How about this, we both come up with a list and then compare it when we get back to school, okay?_
> 
> _I hope you’re having fun in Korea! I can’t wait for you to get home!_

_Kibum_

Minho wiped the tears from his eyes, still chuckling. Now he wished that Minseok had been more reactionary about the lollipop, but it was still funny, to him, at least. He almost wanted to get up to call Kibum again, but he had said that he’d be busy today, and Ember was so comfortable on him and he was loathed to disrupt her.

“Hm...where’s the one from the twenty-sixth...”


	35. Discovery

_\- December 24, 2006 -_

Even in the snow and wind, the smell of the freshly baked pastries and steeping tea permeated the air around Madam Puddifoot’s shop. Kibum ducked behind Minho when another blast of wind buffeted them, sniffing and rubbing the numb tip of his nose. The bell jingled as Minho opened the door, his cheeks rosy as he looked back over his shoulder with a smile.

God, this decor...the chintzy wallpaper, the soft and romantic lighting, the various shades of pink covering, well, everything. He glanced up, side-stepping the mistletoe that hung above the door. 

“Just our usual, right?” Minho asked as the door closed behind them. 

“Uh, yeah.” If he could physically stop the blush creeping over his face, he would. Honestly, why did they still come here? They both knew what this shop meant...maybe it was because none of the other shops sold hot cocoa. He didn’t miss the curious and knowing glances of the other patrons, and he inwardly cursed his increasingly red cheeks.

Kibum gulped, avoiding Minho’s eyes as they stepped up to the counter. He mumbled their order -- “Two hot chocolates, to-go, please.” -- to Mrs. Puddifoot, and stepped back while Minho waited at the counter for it. 

He stuffed his hands in his pockets, glancing over at the door when the bell jingled again, only to do a double take. Professor O’Neely walked inside, snowflakes falling to his shoulders and the floor as he ran his hands through his hair. His eyes somehow looked bluer, if that was even possible, a smile sparkling in them as he raised his hand and kissed the hand he was holding. 

Kibum blinked slowly, his gaze dragging from O’Neely to Professor Chanin, whose eyes were shining as she smiled up at him. 

What. 

Wasn’t he married? 

He glanced at Minho, who was picking up their hot chocolates from the counter and turning. Only, he froze when he spotted O’Neely and Chanin, who were still hand in hand and oblivious to their surroundings, until...

“Professor?” Minho asked, his voice quiet and small. Kibum’s gaze flicked from Minho to the professors as he stepped over to where Minho was, pulling him aside as he didn’t look away from O’Neely. 

“Mr. Choi! And Mr. Kim!” O’Neely said, his broad grin never dimming. “What a surprise!” Kibum glanced at Professor Chanin, then their joined hands, and then back to O’Neely. Minho must have done the same because O’Neely laughed as he glanced down at Chanin. “I suppose our secret is out, love.” 

“It was only a matter of time,” she said, sighing with a smile. “Don’t worry, boys. We’re married.”

Kibum opened his mouth in a silent _oh_. It all made sense, now, given the way they acted around each other during meals. Minho still seemed surprised, given that he hadn’t moved since he saw noticed them. Chanin took O’Neely’s wallet out of his coat and patted his chest as she walked past them to the counter to order their own drinks. 

“So, what are you two doing here?” 

“Oh,” Minho chuckled nervously, glancing over at Kibum as he passed him his drink. “We like the hot chocolate.” Kibum reluctantly met O’Neely’s eyes, averting them immediately when the professor glanced between them, his smile growing. 

“It is very good.” 

Kibum huffed a laugh and grabbed Minho’s elbow as he pulled him for the door. “We’ll leave you alone now, Professor.” He let go of Minho’s arm as he met O’Neely’s eyes again. “Merry Christmas,” he said, and Minho opened the door as he mimicked Kibum’s farewell. 

“You too, boys!” 

The door clicked closed behind them, and Kibum took a sip of his cocoa as Minho stopped a couple of steps outside. “I mean, I knew he was married, but I never thought...” 

“It makes sense if you think about it.” 

“Yeah.” Minho sighed, looking slightly forlorn as he surveyed the village. When he glanced over at Kibum, he switched the hand he was holding his cocoa in and reached over to fix Kibum’s scarf and beanie. “Are you cold? Do you want to go to the other shops?”

“Mm.” Kibum hid his smile behind his drink and he took a sip. “Sounds good.”


	36. Carve

_\- December 24, 2006 -_

"I’ll see you later.”

“Okay.” Minho’s gaze followed Kibum as he jogged up to the castle, his panic setting in. 

What the fuck should he make? Or rather, what the fuck could he make? The possibilities were not only endless but also limited, as he didn’t have much time. Of course, Kibum already had an idea, and whatever it was would probably be perfect. He thought about it all the way to the owlery, and then all the way back to the castle...still, no clue. He wandered away from the castle, the drifts in the blanket of snow making it hard to walk down to the lawn. He cut through the greenhouses, weaving through them and where he knew the garden rows were, as he traipsed down to Merlin’s Beard.

Snow filtered through the skeletal trees, coating the bare branches in a thin layer of white. Minho squinted as he looked up, blinking away the flakes that caught in his eyelashes. It really was very pretty here in the winter, with the way the world got washed in white and gray. He threw his arms out to balance himself as he walked along the bank of the creek, putting one foot in front of the other until he reached the shore of the Black Lake. 

Ice stretched out from the shoreline, a dusting of snow coating the surface of it until it was broken by the crests of the unfrozen water. Heavy clouds draped over the peaks of the surrounding mountains. Minho inhaled deeply, relishing in the chill that filled his chest. 

Crouching by the shoreline, he dug into the snow and picked up a couple of rocks, turning as he tossed one across the ice. It skipped three times before it plinked into the water. He shuffled the others in his palm, listening to them clink together before he tossed another one. 

One...two... _plink_. 

Minho glanced down at the two remaining rocks, tracing the jagged natural line that split one of them in half. He sniffed a laugh, cocking his head as he flipped it over. It sort of reminded him of the necklaces he would see in stores sometimes. Sooyoung had one with Miyoung, their initials etched on either side. Sooyoung had Miyoung’s initials, which meant that he would have Kibum’s if he made this rock into a pendant. 

Was that how it was supposed to work? Or did they just do that because they were dating? Heat crept over his face and he looked back over the lake, debating on whether he should just throw the rock away. It was a stupid idea, anyway. 

But, it wasn’t...that...it wasn’t that he liked Kibum...it was just that...they _were_ best friends and this _was_ a best friend necklace. Or, it would be. Just because his cousin and her girlfriend wore one didn’t mean that...just...every situation was different. 

And, it wasn’t like he had any other ideas, either...

With a sigh, he dropped the other rock and brushed the one he intended to use onto his jeans, buffing the dirt and melted snow off of it. He pulled his wand out of his back pocket and set the rock down on the rotting log behind him. Squinting, he pointed the tip of his wand at the thin white line covering the face of the rock like a lightning bolt. 

“Diffindo!” he said with a couple of swoops of his wand, a bright pink light illuminating the copse of trees for a second. Once the splinters from the log cleared, Minho knelt and dug around for the pieces of the rock with the tip of his wand. He found one and stuffed it in his pocket while he searched for the other. When he finally found it, he sat back on the shore, where he had been searching for the stones.

Minho pulled out both pieces, setting the larger of the two aside on his knee. “Scribo,” he said holding his wand at the tip as if it were a pen. His brow furrowed in concentration as he scraped _Ki_ into the face of the rock. He brushed his finger over the inscription before he wrote over it until it was deep enough. When he finished with that _Ki_ , he pocketed it and grabbed the other, copying the procedure, but this time with _Min_. 

Once he was satisfied, he brushed the snow and dirt off of his coat and butt, checking his pockets multiple times for his wand and the two halves of the stone. He made his way back through Merlin’s Beard, following his meandering path through the snow to the castle. It was snowing pretty heavily by the time he made it inside, dusk already darkening the gray sky. 

He instantly headed down the stairs to the basement, sparing a cursory glance down the Slytherin hallway out of reflex. He made it through the barrels and started over to the bookshelves leading to the loft until he heard the barrels open again. Minho glanced over his shoulder in surprise, relaxing when Kibum’s laugh echoed down the tunnel. 

“Hey! Did you finish making your present?”

“Yeah, I just did.” A bell rang as Kibum came to an abrupt stop at the end of the tunnel. “What’s that for?”

“Dinner, I think.” Ah, of course. Minho glanced down at the small box in Kibum’s hand, his curiosity piqued. His eyebrows raised as he reached out for it and he met Kibum’s eyes as he took it from his hands. “No peeking.”

“I would never,” he said with a mischievous grin, chuckling when Kibum squinted at him. “Save me a spot.”

“Of course.”

Minho leaned, watching Kibum crawl back out the tunnel. He waited until the lid of the barrel closed behind him before he darted for the loft. Up the winding stairs he ran, a little breathless once he reached the room and lit the tip of his wand so he could see. In the far corner of the room, there was a little table filled with crafting supplies since Helga Hufflepuff wanted them to be prepared for any and all emergencies. He dug through it, eventually finding usable chains to finish making these necklaces. 

He carried the chains downstairs, attempting to assemble the necklaces on his way back to the room. It was difficult, though, with Kibum’s present for him in hand. He set the box on Kibum’s pillow before he laid across his bed, his fingers fumbling with the chain. After a while, he pulled his wand out, drilling a tiny hole in each of the pieces. 

A heavy sigh. Minho held them up, both swaying with the sudden motion. He stuffed Kibum’s under his pillow before he slipped his own on, glancing at the unsuspecting box that was waiting for him to open it. Even though he was beyond curious, he knew better than to open it.

Minho tucked his pendant underneath his sweater, his fingers brushing against the Boötes necklace Kibum had bought for him last year. 

Hopefully, his ridiculous present would measure up to Kibum’s expectations...he really didn’t want to let him down.


	37. 친구

_\- February 17, 2007 -_

“Hey, wait,” Kibum said when Minho started to get up from the Slytherin table. Minho settled down beside him again, his eyebrows raising expectantly. “Are we still planning on going to Hogsmeade after practice?”

Minho’s shoulder slumped a little. “I don’t have any money, though.”

“Me neither. We can just go look at the shops and pick out what we _would_ buy if we had money.” 

“Or we could go to Gladrags and try on clothes again.” Kibum snorted, and Minho’s smile waned as he looked across the Great Hall to see the rest of his team getting up. “We can figure it out after.” 

“Sure.” Minho’s smile returned when he glanced back at Kibum. “Bye, buddy,” Kibum said, his voice turning saccharinely sweet in a burst of aegyo. He almost laughed when Minho winced in faux pain. “I hope practice goes well for you.”

“I hope your practice goes well, too,” Minho said, matching his aegyo and adding finger hearts. Kibum laughed then, and Minho waved goodbye over his shoulder before he picked up his pace and ran after his team. 

Kibum watched him go until Analecia cleared her throat. Or right, she was still at the table... His face heated as he turned to her. “Random question...”

Oh god...he wasn’t ready to talk to anyone about his feelings for Minho. Not yet. Not until he talked in person to Jonghyun, at least... Usually, he did a better job about hiding it but he had forgotten that she was still here. 

“...what does...jin...jingoo mean?” Kibum blinked. “You two call each other that all the time, and I keep forgetting to ask.”

“Oh, chingu?” 

She gave him a sheepish smile. “Yeah! Sorry for mispronouncing it...”

“Don’t worry about it! Uh, yeah, it just means like, someone who’s your friend or, um, buddy, who’s the same age as you that you’re really close with.”

“Ohhh. That makes sense.” The side door behind the dais opened to reveal Flitwick, his arms full of sheet music. “You must have a new song to learn today.”

“Probably,” Kibum said, stretching as he stood and started to walk toward the front of the Great Hall where the Frog Choir was congregating. “Have fun in Gobstones!”


	38. Splash

_\- April 7, 2007 -_

“What do you wanna do?”

Minho shrugged, staring upside-down at the opposite wall of Kibum’s dorm room from where he laid at the foot of his bed. They had just gotten back from the owlery -- they had made Jonghyun a howler for his birthday tomorrow -- and made it inside just before it started to rain. 

Again. 

For the fourth time this week.

Usually, Minho loved the rain, but the constant overcast sky for the past two weeks was more than enough to bring his mood down slightly. He sighed when Kibum grabbed his foot from where he sat against the headboard, shaking it.

“Come on, think of something. I’m _bored_ ,” he said, drawing out the word dramatically. Minho snorted and Kibum stopped shaking his foot and started to tickle it instead. 

“Hey!” He kicked his foot away from Kibum and laughed as he sat up enough to look at him. “Why don’t you think of something?” 

“I’m too bored!” 

Minho rolled his eyes, smiling as he laid back down. If they couldn’t go outside...”What if we explored down here?” 

“Like, Slytherin?” 

“Yeah...no, I mean no.” He gestured vaguely around the room. “Like, the entire basement. We haven’t really done that, yet.” 

“I guess that’s true.” 

Kibum slid out of his bed and walked over to where he and Minho had discarded their shoes. Minho rolled over and sat up, following him out to the common room. “Do you have your wand? Mine is in my room.” 

“Shit, I’ll be right back.” Kibum hopped off the steps leading to the door and hurried back to the dorm rooms, leaving Minho alone. There were several other Slytherins occupying the common room, studying or reading or napping on the couch beside the fire. Minho finished ascending the stairs and walked up to the wall, yawning as it opened for him. 

Kibum rushed back into the room, his hand stuffed into the front pocket of the hoodie he borrowed from Minho. 

Once he stepped up beside him, Minho looked down the hall. “Which way?” 

Kibum glanced both ways, then pointed to the shadows of the narrow corridor that lead to the Potions classroom. He took his wand out of his pocket, whispering _Lumos_ before the reached the doorway. The clear white light radiating from the tip of his wand cast the stones in a shimmery silver light.

Or maybe it was just the cobwebs.

Minho shivered, huddling closer to Kibum when a cool draft went straight through him. 

“Do you think there’s anything interesting down here?” he whispered, peering around at the darkness surrounding them.

“There’s bound to be. It’s Hogwarts, after all. There’s always something where you least expect it.” 

“True.” 

They walked a bit further, finding nothing except for more bends and turns in the seemingly unending hallway as well as the occasional dusty painting. Minho grabbed onto the back of Kibum’s sweatshirt and was about to suggest that they head back the way they came and try somewhere else when their footsteps turned hollow. Kibum stopped walking and swung his wand over. 

There was an opening carved in the rockface. Minho leaned in toward it, grabbing Kibum’s wand hand and guiding the light into the entrance to...wherever this lead. There was an immediate turn inside the opening, leading further in. He stepped inside, taking Kibum with him. 

“You hear that?” Kibum asked, holding up his wand to inspect the low ceiling. 

The constant dripping that echoed in the basement had only been getting louder and louder as they walked further down the hall, but now the dripping had turned to more of a trickle. Minho’s brow furrowed, turning the corner when they reached another bend. A low blue light shone at the far end of the hallway, and Kibum’s hand latched onto his arm as they slowly started for it. The light grew brighter and stronger the closer they came to the opening, until...

Minho stopped in his tracks, blinking. 

There was a pool -- how deep, Minho wasn’t sure -- the water lapping against the floor. Trails of steam or mist curled off the surface of it and reflections of rippled light danced on the low ceiling. At the far end of the room lay an opening that led outside, presumedly to the Black Lake.

“Where are we?” 

Minho shook his head, pulling Kibum along as he took a step inside the room. Instantly, on either side of him, torches burst to life, the flashes startling both of them. They huddled together in the doorway, holding each other as the torches lit up around the room. 

Then, all was still. 

Beside him, Kibum gulped. 

Minho squeezed his arm before he let go and stepped further into the room, stopping right at the waterline. He knelt beside the pool, dipping his hand in with a smile. “It’s warm!” he said, looking back at Kibum, who had yet to look away from the glittering rockface. “It’s probably meant to swim in.” 

“Can you swim?” 

Minho nodded. “Mom had us take lessons when we were younger. Can’t you?” Kibum shook his head. “I could teach you if you want.” 

A smile toyed with the corner of Kibum’s lips before he turned away, looking at the torches behind him. “We don’t even have anything to swim in.” 

“Gladrags probably has some.” Kibum glanced his way before coming over to join him at the waterline. “We can check next time we go into Hogsmeade.” 

Kibum trailed his fingers through the water, flicking the droplets off and drying his hand off on his jeans. “Okay.”

* * * * *

“Are you excited?” Minho asked, hugging the brown paper bundle from Gladrags close to his chest.

Kibum tried to stop himself from smiling but couldn’t once he glanced over and saw Minho’s stupidly cute grin. He pursed his lips and looked away. “Yeah...a little nervous, too.” 

Minho slung his arm over Kibum’s shoulders. “It’s okay! I’ll make sure you don’t drown.”

“I really appreciate that.” 

Minho squeezed his shoulder before he let him go. He bounced on the balls of his feet before he looked back over at Kibum, his grin broadening, and started to run the rest of the way back to the castle. Kibum huffed and picked up his own pace, chasing after him. 

They were both breathless by the time they reached the castle, but still, they hurried downstairs, ducking into the hallway leading to the kitchen. Minho tore open the bundle, passing Kibum his red and white striped swimming trunks and their matching tank. He balled up the brown paper once he pulled out his blue and white striped ensemble. “I kinda wish they had newer stuff,” he said, looking over the suit in his hand. 

“Come on, did you really expect them to have non-vintage suits?” Minho shrugged and nodded, conceding. “So, what now?” 

“Go change into it and I’ll meet you in the hallway.” 

Kibum took a step away before he looked back, frowning. “Are you sure I don’t have to wear my underwear?” 

Minho snorted as he passed him. “Trust me. You’ll regret it if you do.” Kibum watched him hurry back to Hufflepuff before he turned and made his way down the hall and then turned the corner for Slytherin. Thankfully, his room was empty, and he changed into his new swimming clothes quickly. He pulled his jeans and t-shirt on over them before he grabbed his wand and started for the common room. 

To his surprise, Minho was standing frozen outside Slytherin as Kibum opened up the door. He relaxed when he saw that it was only Kibum passed him one of the two towels from the bathroom that he was carrying. Kibum lit the tip of his wand before they stepped up and into the corridor. 

Kibum pulled off his t-shirt and jeans as the torches lit themselves around the room, tentatively following Minho, who had ditched his towel as soon as he stepped inside. He ran toward the water and jumped, folding in on himself before he hit the water with a huge splash. Kibum stopped walking toward the pool as the waves crashed over the side and drenched the rocks. 

Minho resurfaced, finding Kibum with a grin as he wiped his face off with his hands. “It’s, like, really warm!” he said as he swam back to the edge of the pool. He crossed his arms, smiling up at Kibum. "Are you still nervous?”

“Yeah, a bit.” 

“That’s okay. You don’t have to swim today if you don’t want to.” He turned as Kibum sat beside him at the edge of the pool, sticking his legs in. It really was warm. Huh. “We can do whatever you’re comfortable with.” 

He didn’t swim that day. 

He didn’t even go further into the water than that. Once Minho was tired, he pulled himself up beside him, grabbing one of the towels to dry himself off. Then, he showed Kibum how to do strokes that would propel him through the water, once they got to that step. Kibum followed his lead. By the next day, Kibum felt a bit more ready to join Minho in the water. 

It took weeks before Kibum could actually swim on his own with confidence. Minho had been extremely patient with him, always ready to hold his hand or support him if he felt like he was about to sink. But now, Minho was swimming away and deeper into the pool, grinning back at him as he followed him. 

He pushed his hair back, the wet strands sticking up every which way. “You’re doing great,” he said once Kibum reached the opposite end of the pool.

“Yeah, well,” _I had a great teacher_ , he almost said. Instead, he cleared his throat. “Thanks.” He pushed away from the pool wall, swimming across to the other side of the room. 

Minho, of course, followed him.

He pulled himself out and dried his hands off before he reached for his polaroid, holding it away from himself as he slipped back into the pool, being careful not to splash too much. Minho stopped beside him as he held it out, wiping the water out of his eyes before he slung his arm around Kibum and rested his chin on his shoulder. 

“Are you ready?” 

Minho sat up and Kibum clicked the picture, catching it before it fell into the puddle of water. “Hey,” he shoved Minho away with his shoulder as he started to cackle. “Smile normally! I don’t want to waste film...”

He kept looking over at Minho to make sure he wasn’t smiling like a deranged clown this time. “Just take the fucking picture, Bummie.” Kibum huffed, and Minho huddled closer to him. Kibum took two pictures in quick succession and pulled himself out of the pool to put them and the camera with his clothes. “Are you done for the day?” 

“I don’t know, I was thinking we could work on the essay for Transfiguration now.” Minho threw his head back, groaning. “Come on, buddy, it’s not that bad.” 

Minho continued to whine until Kibum walked up to him, offering his hand to help him out of the pool. Mischief flickered in his eyes, and that was Kibum’s only warning before Minho pulled him back into the water. Sputtering, Kibum shoved Minho away with a laugh. 

It was another hour before they dried themselves off and left their secret pool to actually work on homework. Kibum’s limbs were aching by the time he slipped into bed that night -- that was the longest they had spent in the pool yet -- and he reached into his drawer to look at the pictures he had taken earlier. 

The first one, he shuddered the chuckled at Minho’s crazy smile before he slipped it back into the drawer of his nightstand. He then flipped between the other two. In the first, there was a fondness in his eyes as he glared at Minho while waiting for him to get into a nice pose for the picture. In the second...Kibum dropped the first picture on his chest and glanced at his roommates to make sure they couldn’t see it. 

There was nothing wrong with it, it was just...

In the picture, his attention turned to Minho, his smile transforming from a nice one to...well, something much softer. Was that how he looked at Minho all the time? No wonder Jonghyun guessed his feelings so easily. 

He couldn’t take his eyes off of them, his gaze darting between the way Minho’s expression brightened as his grin turned adorably cheesy, and his own appreciation of...Wait...His eyes widened as he took in the picture. 

Something he already knew, given how often Mom and Grandma brought it up, was how much he looked like his dad. When he especially missed him, Kibum would look through Mom’s photobooks of them and their life together. The pictures started at Hogwarts, when they were friends, then moved on to their wedding, then their life in Korea with Kibum before Dad got diagnosed with leukemia -- he always stopped there. 

He knew each picture by heart -- every glance, every expression...every moment was dedicated to memory. Which is why he knew that he looked at Minho the exact same way that Dad looked at Mom.

Kibum gulped, pressing the polaroid over his heart. 

He really had it bad, didn’t he...


End file.
